Liquidated bank owner apprehended in Sydney

Liquidated bank owner apprehended in Sydney

JAKARTA (JP): One of the country's most wanted white-collar
criminal suspects, businessman Hendra Rahardja, was arrested by
the Australian Federal Police in Sydney, an officer said here on
Thursday.

National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi said Hendra, the owner
of the liquidated Bank Harapan Sentosa (BHS) and Bank Guna
International, was apprehended last week.

"We're still working on extraditing Hendra," Roesmanhadi said.

According to the secretary of Interpol's National Central
Bureau, Brig. Gen. Wayan Ardjana, Hendra was arrested on June 1
at Kingsford-Smith International Airport in Sydney, where he
arrived on a flight from Hong Kong.

"He was first spotted by the airport's immigration officers
based on our red notice we sent worldwide. He was then handed
over to Federal Police officers," Wayan told The Jakarta Post on
Thursday evening. The red notice is a list of wanted criminal
suspects.

Hendra, the brother of fugitive Eddy Tansil, allegedly fled
the country to avoid arrest following the liquidation of his two
banks, which have total assets worth an estimated Rp 4.7 trillion
(US$602.6 million).

Bank Guna and BHS were liquidated by the government in
November 1997 along with 14 other private banks.

His brother Tansil, a petrochemical businessman, escaped from
Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta in 1996.

Tansil, who is still at large, was sentenced to 20 years in
jail for defrauding Bapindo Bank of $620 million.

None of Hendra's relatives here, including his son-in-law,
real estate tycoon Seno Margono, could be reached for comment.

However, Alamsyah Hanafiah, who was Hendra's lawyer at the
time his banks were liquidated, told the Post on Thursday night
Hendra "was still abroad".

Alamsyah said he had been in contact with a number of Hendra's
relatives, including those staying overseas. "They told me there
has been no arrest and Hendra was still abroad."

According to Wayan, the identity of Hendra was confirmed with
additional data faxed by his office to Sydney a few minutes after
the arrest.

"Police officers in Sydney told us that the data on Hendra we
sent, including copies of his fingerprints, photographs and his
passport number, matched those of the man they apprehended,"
Wayan said.

Shortly after Hendra's arrest, the Australian attorney
general's office called the Interpol bureau in Jakarta and asked
for an official arrest warrant for Hendra.

"They gave us two hours, but we did it in 30 minutes," Wayan
said.

Indonesia and Australia have an extradition treaty.

However, Wayan said that based on his experience, it would not
be easy to extradite Hendra to Jakarta.

"The procedure is very complicated because it involves many
related agencies and a series of stages, including court
hearings," Wayan said, adding that Hendra would be provided
defense lawyers by the Australian government.

"It (the extradition) could take months," he said.

Wayan cited the example of the 1995 arrest in Australia of a
businessman from Salatiga, Central Java, for alleged bank fraud.

"He was only extradited two years later," he said.

Wayan said Jakarta would soon send two police detectives and
an Interpol officer to Sydney to question Hendra as a witness for
his alleged role in several other white-collar crimes.

A few days after his banks were liquidated, it was reported by
several local media that Hendra had traveled to Singapore for
medical reasons.

Alamsyah said at the time that Hendra had left the country
about three months earlier and was still abroad "receiving
medical treatment for an illness".

He said at the time that his client would soon return to
Indonesia and take responsibility for his liquidated banks.

"Hendra is not running away from the country and he's not
taking the customers' money either," Alamsyah said.

He assured customers of BHS and Bank Guna that Hendra and
other bank executives would reimburse their money and take
responsibility for the liquidations.

The liquidation of BHS was reportedly caused by Hendra's
aggressive investments, particularly in the property sector,
where he constructed a number of buildings and several housing
estates in Tangerang and Bogor, West Java. (emf/bsr)