Police grill Sjahril over bank scandal

Police grill Sjahril over bank scandal

JAKARTA (JP): National Police investigators questioned Central
Bank Governor Sjahril Sabirin on Tuesday over the Rp 546 billion
(US$68.25 million at current rate) Bank Bali scandal.

When he arrived at police headquarters at 8 a.m. in his Volvo
sedan, Sjahril was questioned as a witness in the scandal for
about two hours without a lawyer present.

The governor said police investigators asked him many
questions, including about a joint decree between the governor
and Minister of Finance, and a meeting on June 1 which related to
the Bank Bali case.

"The police asked me 18 questions. I gave answers to the best
of my knowledge. I'm not in a position to answer questions
concerning matters other than banking and central bank policies,"
Sjahril told reporters before leaving the headquarters.

The joint decree rules the government blanket guarantee
program, which guarantees all banking obligations of closed-down
banks. Meanwhile, the June 1 meeting decided on the disbursement
of Bank Bali's interbank loans, which are guaranteed by the
government.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar M. Sianipar said
the police had questioned as of Tuesday three high-ranking state
officials: Sjahril, State Minister of the Empowerment of State
Enterprises Tanri Abeng and Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto.

"All the officials said they knew nothing about the bank
scandal," Togar said on Tuesday.

Tanri and Bambang were questioned, also as witnesses, on
Monday.

Togar said the officials were summoned to also clarify a
report filed by foreign auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC) on the bank scandal.

PwC was hired by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) in late August
to audit the transactions related to the scandal which allegedly
involved associates of President B.J. Habibie.

BPK disclosed a summary version of the PwC report to the
public, while the full report was handed over to the police and
the Attorney General's Office.

The agency said they refused to announce the full report since
it would breach a banking law and violate banking secrecy codes.

Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi earlier said the
government would not bow to pressure from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) to fully disclose the full PwC audit.

He acknowledged that the audit traced the flow of funds in the
scandal to several influential figures and an organization. (jun)