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.