Pande acquitted of all charges in Bank Bali scam

Pande acquitted of all charges in Bank Bali scam

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court acquitted on
Thursday Pande Nasorahona Lubis, who had been charged with graft
in connection with the Rp 546 billion (US$58 million) Bank Bali
scandal.

"None of the legal arguments in the prosecutors' indictment
proved the defendant violated the law.

"Therefore, the defendant must be freed from all charges and
his dignity restored.

"The decision to process the disbursement of the funds to Bank
Bali was made by IBRA; it was not Pande's personal decision,"
Presiding judge I.D.G. Putra Yadnya said.

As soon as the hearing ended, Pande made a quick exit from the
courtroom to avoid the media.

Earlier, chief prosecutor Tarwo Hadi Sadjuri asked the court
to sentence Pande, a former deputy chairman of the Indonesian
Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), to four years in prison for his
role in the Bank Bali scandal.

Tarwo said Pande should be held responsible for the
disbursement of Rp 904 billion of IBRA's funds to Bank Bali,
which was a violation of banking procedures.

Tarwo accused Pande of violating the 1971 law on corruption,
specifically Article 1 on enriching oneself at the expense of the
state. He also accused the defendant of having conspired with
others to commit a crime.

Pande, 56, a career banker, has been viewed by many people as
the person most responsible for the disbursement of IBRA's funds
to Bank Bali.

The prosecutors argued that Bank Indonesia and the Ministry of
Finance had already ruled that the loans to Bank Bali were not
covered by the government's guarantee scheme.

In reference to an April 22, 1999 letter from then minister of
finance Bambang Subianto ordering the disbursement of IBRA's
funds to several banks, Yadnya said it was not necessary to
verify the solvency of BDNI, one of the recipients of the
agency's money.

The disbursed money was for a loan Bank BDNI owed to Bank Bali
but was unable to repay at the time it was taken over by IBRA, a
government agency. It later became apparent the Rp 546 billion
had ended up in the hands of PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) as a
"commission" for helping secure the repayment of the loan.

The case became a cause celebre when it was revealed that EGP
was owned by people closely connected with a small group in the
Golkar Party responsible for the reelection campaign of then
president B.J. Habibie, who lost his bid to remain in power in
October 1999.

One of the owners of EGP, Djoko S. Tjandra, who also had been
implicated in the Bank Bali scandal, was acquitted of all charges
by the same district court in August.

Several other bankers and politicians also have been
investigated, and the government has said it plans to bring
suspended central bank governor Sjahril Sabirin to trial.

When questioned by The Jakarta Post following Thursday's
hearing, Tarwo declined to identify any other suspects in the
case.

He did, however, hint that among those being questioned about
the case included Sjahril, former Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli,
businessman Setya Novanto, former state minister of investment
and state enterprises development Tanri Abeng and the former
chief of the Supreme Advisory Council, A.A. Baramuli.

Tarwo said he would appeal Thursday's decision to the Supreme
Court within two weeks, adding that the panel of judges had
misinterpreted the indictment against the defendant.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said his office
would file an appeal with the Supreme Court for a review into the
district court's verdict.

"We'll first study the verdict before we file an appeal for a
review into the court's ruling, similar to what we did with the
court's verdict which acquitted Djoko S. Tjandra.

"We'll also carry out an internal examination of the
indictment," Marzuki told journalists at his office.

Marzuki said that his office would not change the indictment
on Sjahril Sabirin as each charge was separate and distinct
although they were all suspects in the Bank Bali scandal.
(01/bby)