New investigation starts for Ismoko

JAKARTA: The National Police will start on Thursday an investigation into former director of the police fraud squad Brig. Gen. Samuel Ismoko for allegedly accepting bribes from Adrian Waworuntu, a key suspect in the Rp 1.7 trillion (US$187 million) Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) scandal.

Ismoko had been accused of receiving $20,000 and Rp 500 million from Adrian, as confirmed by Rudi Soetopo, one of the suspects in the BNI case.

National Police deputy chief of detectives Insp. Gen. Dadang Garnida told reporters on Tuesday that a team of investigators would commence its task by holding a meeting on Thursday.

According to Dadang, if the police find enough evidence of Ismoko's involvement, they will send the case directly to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office and he would be tried in a public court.

Previously, a police disciplinary hearing had imposed a one- year suspension on Ismoko for giving special treatment to certain suspects in the BNI case. But the hearing was unable to prove that he had accepted a bribe. -- JP