Police source throws new light on BRI scandal
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The case involving Rp 200 billion (US$23.5 million) from workers insurance fund, PT Jamsostek, that was transferred from Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) to Mandiri Bank, has become confusing for onlookers after it was revealed that the scandal was old.
A investigator from the National Police's corruption division, who wished to remain anonymous, said that case -- in which the Rp 200 billion fund that had been transferred to an account at Bank Mandiri's Prapatan branch had been used by a private company as collateral to obtain a loan worth Rp 120 billion, without the approval of PT Jamsostek -- had already been solved.
"The case was solved by Jakarta Police in 2002 and eight people from both Bank Mandiri and the private company were convicted by the court," he said without further elaboration.
However, the investigator said, his office would further look into the transfer process and the roles of PT Rifan Investindo, BRI and PT Jamsostek officials in the case.
"PT Rifan Investindo is the fund manager of PT Jamsostek. They asked PT Jamsostek to transfer its funds in BRI to an account in Bank Mandiri in February 2002 with the promise of higher revenue. The police are investigating this process," he added.
Separately on Wednesday, BRI claimed the transfer of the funds from its Sudirman branch had followed correct procedure.
"There is nothing wrong with the transfer from the BRI branch because it was done using the correct system and procedure. There is no scandal or fraud in the transfer as claimed by the media. We can't reject a demand from an account's owner to transfer his money," said BRI corporate secretary Yadi Supriatno.
He made the denial as the police were questioning on Wednesday BRI's Sudirman branch head Yasrin Ginting, for more than three hours in connection with the transfer process.
National Police Deputy chief of the Public Relations Division Brig. Gen. Soenarko said on Wednesday his office was investigating the case and that it was too early to draw conclusions on BRI's role in the scandal.
"They can say anything. However, we are still examining the transfer process at the BRI branch. We also plan to question PT Jamsostek president director Junaidi," he said.
The scandal emerged after the police received a complaint on Oct. 30. At least 10 officials from both PT Jamsostek and BRI, including the bank's president director Rudjito, have so far been questioned.
The police said that based on testimonies from all witnesses, there was convincing evidence that the transfer process was not done properly as it was based on fake documents.
The alleged fraud is the second scandal involving BRI and PT Jamsostek that has surfaced in the last three months. The first scandal, worth Rp 294 billion, hit BRI in early October. Of the funds, some Rp 70 billion belonged to PT Jamsostek.
The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office had investigated the Rp 294 billion case but managed to recover only Rp 60 billion of the funds, after the arrests of all five suspects.
Also on Wednesday, the National Police questioned three more officials as witnesses in connection with the graft case of Rp 20.9 trillion from Account No. 502.
The three comprise of two officials from the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) and another from Bank Indonesia.
"Today, we have questioned Internal Audit Unit head Parlin Indriati, and cooperation head Erson, both from IBRA, as well as BI director of transaction management Made Sukade," Soenarko said.