Police source throws new light on BRI scandal

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.