Ismoko detained over BNI bribe case
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A one-star police general, who had been in charge of a major bank corruption probe, was officially detained here on Thursday as a suspect for his alleged role in a bribery case linked to the high-profile lending scam involving Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).
The arrest warrant for Brig. Gen. Samuel Ismoko was issued on Thursday, said Insp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani, who now heads the National Police team to investigate the BNI fraud case.
However, Yusuf who is also the head of the police's internal affairs division, declined to speak further about the bribe that Ismoko allegedly received when he was leading the investigation into the BNI case.
Ismoko formerly headed the fraud squad at the National Police headquarters when the scandal at the state-owned bank occurred in 2003, inflicting around Rp 1.7 trillion (US$170 million) in losses to the state.
Bank officers, in collusion with other powerful individuals, issued fictitious letters of credit out of the Kebayoran Baru branch of BNI in 2003 to suspects linked to PT Gramarindo.
Ismoko, along with his subordinate Sr. Comr. Irman Santosa, who has also been arrested, were accused of taking bribes from BNI directors and at least one other key suspect in the scam, Adrian Waworuntu, all of whom reportedly wanted their investigations to be tossed out.
Adrian, a businessman, was convicted recently of involvement in the BNI case and sentenced to life in prison by the South Jakarta District Court.
Another suspect, Rudi Sutopo, previously admitted that Ismoko received a "gift" of up to Rp 180 million from Adrian when he traveled to Bangkok two years ago.
A police disciplinary committee had earlier ordered the dismissal of Ismoko as the fraud squad head, and banned him from involvement in criminal investigations for a year. He was transferred from the operational division at the headquarters to be an advisor to the National police chief Gen. Sutanto.
Ismoko is now charged with acting beyond his authority by giving Adrian and other suspects in the bank fraud special treatment, as well as taking in-kind bribes from them in the form of notebook computers and cellular phones.
Also, his subordinate Irman Santosa has admitted in his case file that Ismoko received a traveler's check worth around Rp 25 million from BNI directors.
Ishak and Jeffri Baso -- Adrian's accomplices -- also allegedly gave Ismoko a check worth Rp 15.5 billion in order for him to play down Adrian's role in the case.
Responding to the detention, Ismoko's lawyer Juniver Girsang said on Thursday that neither he nor his client would sign the arrest warrant, arguing that the reason for the arrest was "unclear".
"Under the law, the reason for someone to be arrested is that there are fears that a suspect may destroy evidence or flee the country. But that is not the situation here with my client," Juniver claimed.