Police seek former banker for scandal

Police seek former banker for scandal

JAKARTA (JP): Police are seeking a former Bank Harapan Sentosa
(BHS) director, Melinda Wijaya, who is suspected of selling the
bank's assets before it was liquidated last year.

City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said the
allegations against Melinda surfaced in a complaint filed by
Dahril Dewantoro, president of PT Arta Buana Sakti, a company
associated with BHS.

Both companies are part of the group controlled by business
tycoon Hendra Raharja, who has reportedly been overseas since the
bank was liquidated.

Reports say several BHS branches were built on land owned by
PT Arta Buana Sakti.

In his complaint filed with the police on March 28, Dahril
said Melinda, a member of PT Arta Buana Sakti's board of
directors, appointed him the company's president last Nov. 14.

He said he first became aware of a problem last month, when
his salary was not paid and he was subsequently replaced.

Dahril said he believed his employment at PT Arta Buana Sakti
was a ruse in which Melinda could sell the assets and make him
take responsibility.

He said he came to this conclusion after discovering that many
of company's assets were sold during his tenure.

"Dahril learned about the missing assets in February. Some
important documents of the bank's assets were missing," Aritonang
said.

In his police report, Dahril also cited assets which Melinda
allegedly sold, including Gajah Mada Plaza in West Jakarta.

Aritonang said the police were also investigating if the
suspected scam had anything to do with BHS's financial troubles
which led to its liquidation in November last year.

Police are also trying to determine if Melinda sold assets
because she knew the bank would be liquidated.

"What we know for sure is that Hendra Rahardja also owned the
majority of PT ABS shares. The cases could be related. We're
keeping an open mind about this," Aritonang added.

The authorities are also investigating Seno Margono, a son-in-
law of Hendra, on charges of defrauding BHS of Rp 3 trillion.
(edt)