Ministers implicated in Bank Bali scandal

Ministers implicated in Bank Bali scandal

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), the front-runner in the June elections, accused on
Thursday one of President B.J. Habibie's younger brothers, four
Cabinet ministers, two ruling Golkar party leaders, and five
businessmen of being directly involved in the US$78 million Bank
Bali scandal.

PDI Perjuangan said in a statement that three other senior
government officials and a close confidante of the President were
also involved directly in what it termed criminal economic
subversion.

"We have collected evidence, which beyond any reasonable doubt
incriminates government leaders of the highest level in the
scandal," the statement said.

PDI Perjuangan, which is tipped to lead the new government,
said it gathered the evidence by verifying documents and
interviewing people connected to the fraud.

"We now possess complete and accurate information on concrete
facts describing where and when the suspects met and what they
discussed and agreed to commit," it said.

The party urged the National Police and the Attorney General's
Office to set up an independent investigation team to thoroughly
deal with the criminal case in a transparent manner.

"This team should include not only reputable legal experts of
high integrity but also representatives of the political parties
which won plurality in the June elections but which are not
implicated in the scandal."

PDI Perjuangan said the repayment of the Rp 546 billion
allegedly pillaged from Bank Bali should not in any way affect
legal proceedings against those incriminated in the crime.

Separately, Bank Bali confirmed on Thursday that the whole sum
(Rp 546 billion) had been transferred into an escrow account at
the bank under the joint control of Bank Indonesia and Bank Bali.

It said Rp 122.2 billion of the fund was transferred to the
escrow account on Aug. 16, Rp 174.9 billion on the morning of
Aug.18, Rp 142.2 billion in the late afternoon of Aug. 18 and the
remainder on Aug. 19.

PDI Perjuangan, whose chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri is
seen as a leading presidential candidate, said most of the people
involved in the scandal were members of what is popularly known
as the Success Team, tasked with securing the election of B.J.
Habibie in the November presidential election.

It is really a great tragedy that those entrusted by the
people to fight corruption, collusion and nepotism (known by the
local acronym KKN) have deliberately and blatantly breached the
order of the People's Consultative Assembly for the eradication
of KKN, the party said.

PDI Perjuangan said plundering such a huge amount of state
funds at a time when millions of people live in dire poverty,
millions of poor children cannot afford schooling, numerous
companies are going bankrupt and unemployment has reached a
critical level is not simply a criminal act but economic
subversion.

The scandal, it added, has devastated the budding confidence
in the crisis-hit economy and virtually nullified any economic
improvements made so far.

" We demand Habibie's accountability and those involved in the
scandal should be sentenced at a minimum to life imprisonment,"
the party said. (vin)