Nirwan Bakrie declared suspect in corruption case
Nirwan Bakrie declared suspect in corruption case
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Prominent businessman Nirwan Bakrie has been declared a suspect
in a corruption case involving over Rp 100 billion, police
authorities said on Friday without giving any further details.
National Police detective chief for special crimes Brig. Gen.
Suharto said on Friday that Nirwan, a brother of Indonesian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) chairman Aburizal
Bakrie, had been named a suspect.
"He is a suspect and the case is being processed," Suharto
told The Jakarta Post before switching off his cellular phone.
Despite repeated attempts, both Suharto and the National
Police chief of detectives, Insp. Gen. Engkesman Hillep, refused
to answer their phones.
According to police sources, Nirwan was first investigated by
city police based on complaints filed by Bank Indonesia on Sept.
7, 2001.
It is still unclear, however, why the central bank reported
Nirwan to the police. Nirwan is also a former chief commissioner
of the widely diversified Bakrie Brothers conglomerate.
Businessman H.U. Sutrisna has also been named a suspect in the
case.
In 1998, city police investigated Nirwan, then chairman of the
Bakrie Group, in relation to a Rp 900 billion scam at Bank
Perniagaan.
Former deputy chief of the city police detectives unit Lt.
Col. Bakat Purwanto said at the time that the police wanted to
clarify Nirwan's role in the Bank Perniagaan scandal. Nirwan had
reportedly bought a large number of Bank Perniagaan shares.
The 1997 scam became even more intriguing following the
suspicious death of the bank's former commissioner Hindoro
Budianto on June 15, 1998.
Hindoro, who reportedly fell to his death from his eighth-
floor room in the Hotel Marbela, Anyer, West Jakarta, was
allegedly involved in the scam. His death then sparked
controversy because as the media tried to learn the truth about
his death, Hindoro's family refused to talk to reporters.
Police had said that they would continue the investigation of
the bank fraud despite Hindoro's death, which police concluded
was a pure accident.