Police question Bambang over cam allegations
Police question Bambang over cam allegations
JAKARTA (JP): Police questioned former president Soeharto's
second son Bambang Trihatmodjo as a suspect on Friday over
allegations of a scam at his liquidated Bank Andromeda.
Bambang, owner of the widely diversified Bimantara Group, kept
his mouth closed as he made his way through the sea of reporters
waiting outside the National Police headquarters.
But Antara quoted him as saying that he was questioned as a
witness.
Bambang's two lawyers, O.C. Kaligis and Juan Felix Tampubolon,
who accompanied him during the four-hour interrogation, also
said nothing.
Before the questioning of Bambang, which started at 3:45 p.m.,
the head of the National Police detective corps, Maj. Gen. Da'i
Bachtiar, told the media that Bambang was to be questioned as a
suspect in the alleged bank scam.
"As one of Bank Andromeda's commissioners, he's named as a
suspect in the case but we'll see about it (his status) later in
the investigation," said Da'i, giving no details of the
accusations or whether Bambang would be arrested.
He only said that Friday's questioning of Bambang was the
first such interrogation.
Bambang's appearance at the headquarters on Jl. Trunojoyo in
South Jakarta led the National Police to noticeably tighten their
security.
At least 40 plainclothes officers were deployed to form a
human barricade to protect him at the entrance hall of the
Detective Corps office.
Dozens of press photographers and reporters, who had convened
at the headquarters hours before Bambang arrived, were blockaded
by the officers from getting either proper pictures or comments
from the flamboyant businessman.
According to the available data, Bambang is the first relative
of Soeharto to have been labeled a suspect. His father, who ruled
the country for 32 years, resigned on May 21 after massive anti-
Soeharto rallies and riots nationwide.
Bambang, who was scheduled to arrive at 2 p.m., finally showed
up at 3:45 p.m. in a shiny black Nissan patrol.
After waiting impatiently for almost four hours, the media
swamped Bambang with questions when he was escorted by police
officers out of the detective office.
To the reporters' chagrin, Bambang refused to say a single
word but kept on walking in the midst of the heavy crowd of
officers and reporters.
He only posed for two minutes for the photographers.
None of the police officers, including the head of the
economic crimes unit Col. I Made Mangku Pastika and his
supervisor Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, were willing to comment on
the questioning or when Bambang would be questioned again.
Bambang was first summoned by the police on Sept. 16, but the
questioning was adjourned because the officers were busy
investigating other suspected banking criminals.
Bambang's bank, Andromeda, is one of 21 banks that has been
referred to the police by the central bank, Bank Indonesia,
regarding the possible violation of banking laws.
The bank was one of 16 banks closed down by the government
last November because of allegations that they had violated the
rules limiting lending to their own business groups.
The police's investigation into these liquidated banks is
mostly grounded on suspicions that they breached the legal
lending limit and failed to report this to the authorities,
thereby violating the 1992 Banking Law.
If found guilty, the suspects face a maximum sentence of six
years imprisonment and a Rp 6 billion (US$550,000) fine.
Bambang sat on Bank Andromeda's commissioners board along with
noted businessmen Henri Pribadi, Prajogo Pangestu, Peter F.
Gontha, Jusran and Junanta P. Syarfuan.
Police have so far completed their investigations into two
banks, Bank Dwipa Semesta and Bank Citrahasta Dhanamanunggal. The
dossiers have been handed over to the State Prosecutor's Office.
(emf)