Police receive dossiers on six insolvent banks
Police receive dossiers on six insolvent banks
JAKARTA (JP): Police have received the dossiers of six of the 16 insolvent private banks closed by the government last November for allegedly violating the country's banking laws, an official said on Tuesday.
National Police Detective Corps commander Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told reporters that Bank Indonesia, the central bank, had handed over the dossiers for police investigation.
The dossiers contain information collected by Bank Indonesia during its six-month-old investigation of Bank Andromeda, Bank Jakarta, Bank Industri, Astria Raya Bank, Bank Guna International and Bank Mataram Dhanarta.
Police have separately conducted inquiries into nine more of the 16 liquidated banks, two of which -- Bank Dwipa Semesta and Bank Citrahasta Dhanamanunggal -- have been taken to court.
The other seven banks are Sejahtera Bank Umum (SBU), Bank Harapan Sentosa (BHS), South East Asia Bank (SEAB), Bank Pasific, Bank Anrico, Bank Kosa Graha and Bank Pinaesaan.
During their investigation of the seven banks, police summoned 65 witnesses, including workers at Bank Indonesia, employees of the seven banks and several bank customers.
The remaining insolvent bank, Bank Umum Majapahit, is not under investigation because the bank had actually halted operations before the government announced its liquidation move, making an investigation virtually impossible, according to police.
"We will continue the investigation and summon other related parties, such as suspects and witnesses in the case," Da'i said.
National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Roesmanhadi backed up Da'i's statement, saying the bank probes would continue.
"All the suspects have been put on our overseas travel ban list," he told reporters after the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Indonesian policewomen on Tuesday.
Roesmanhadi also reiterated that police would investigate the three other private banks suspended by the government on Aug. 21.
The three banks -- Bank Umum Nasional (BUN), Bank Modern and Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI) -- were all suspected of violating banking laws.
At the ceremony, a reliable police source indicated that three bank officials -- former president Soeharto's long-time golfing partner and BUN chief commissioner Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, Bank Modern chief commissioner Samadikun Hartono and BDNI president Sjamsul Nursalim -- were to be named as suspects in the cases of the three newly suspended banks.
When asked about Hasan's status, Da'i said that he was a witness in one case and a suspect in his own bank's case.
"The (bank) cases are related to each other. We have to be very careful in handling the matter.
"He (Hasan) was summoned by the police, but failed to show up because his lawyer said he was sick," Da'i said.
Last week, police detained three other senior executives of the three private banks: BUN president Leonard Tanubrata, Bank Modern director Kiki Hamid Djaja and BDNI credit director Husni Ali.
Police said most of the suspects were believed to have breached the legal lending limit while not reporting it to accounting officials -- a direct violation of Law No. 7/1992 on banking.
If found guilty, the suspects could face a maximum sentence of six years in jail and a Rp 6 billion fine. (edt)