New suspects named in BNI case

JAKARTA: The police declared on Wednesday another suspect in the Rp 1.7 trillion (US$200 billion) BNI scandal and formed a special team to investigate alleged involvement of some of the state bank's officials.

"We have named Rudy Sutopo a suspect because we have found sufficient evidence regarding his involvement in the scam," said National Police chief of detectives Com. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng.

Rudy Sutopo is the businessman often touted as a possible suspect, following the detention of the director of the Mahesa Group Harris last week.

Erwin said also the police were close to declaring two more BNI officials as suspects after several rounds of questioning.

The police officer declined to identify the two BNI officials.

Earlier, the police questioned the head of BNI Region 10 Heru Sardjono and his deputy Nurcahyo.

The police have detained 14 suspects so far, including 11 businesspeople and three BNI officials. However, the main suspect, Maria Pauline Lumowa, is still at large in Singapore.

"We have also established a special team in BNI headquarters to find out if several officials there are involved in the scam," said Erwin. -- JP