Police still in dark over HongkongBank scam
Police still in dark over HongkongBank scam
JAKARTA (JP): The city police are still in the dark over the
negligence of the staff of HongkongBank's branch office here in
checking the fake money transfer orders which have caused losses
of about Rp 79 billion (US$34.35 million).
"Moreover, the overseas banks which sent the orders have only
a small amount of money at HongkongBank here, compared to the
huge amount that was to be transferred to a third party," Lt.
Col. Aryanto Sutadi, head of the economic crime section, told
reporters here yesterday.
"I don't want to blame anybody or any party in this case, but
the question is how could the bank's staff have failed to make
any reconfirmation to the overseas banks, which were identified
as the senders of the orders," detective Aryanto said.
Under police questioning, a staff member of the bank said that
he found a fake order sent from the Bassel-based Union Bank of
Switzerland on Dec. 19, 1995, to HongkongBank in Jakarta.
Unfortunately, the staff member didn't report the finding to
his superiors, Aryanto said.
"As far as I know, none of the staff have been fired, but
we'll question them again soon after the main suspect is in our
hands," said the senior officer.
As of yesterday, only one man, identified as Hans Wowor, a
local businessman, had been arrested.
The key suspect, identified as Philippine passport-holder
Henry O. Vendijo, 55, is still at large along with two other
suspects, identified as Tan Tek Hin, believed to be a
Singaporean, and Atik Cornelius, a local businessman.
"We have asked all exit gate authorities nationwide to ban
them from leaving the country," Aryanto said.
Based on preliminary investigations and a report made by
HongkongBank, the fake money orders asked initially for the
transfer of Rp 165 billion. They were sent via telexes under the
names of three prominent banks in Switzerland and Germany with
orders from a corporation called Agro Impact in Italy. (see box)
The telexes, which included suitable secret codes, were sent
on three different dates with different values, asking the
HongkongBank branch office here to transfer cash to two local
firms via private banks.
The local firms are PT Aurora, a contractor for airport
facilities, and PT Atrico, an agribusiness company.
The first telexes, dated Dec. 19, 1995, came from the Dresden
Bank and the Union Bank of Switzerland.
Due to significant irregularities, a HongkongBank staff member
rejected the Union Bank's order. The other order was passed
through to the Modern Bank two days later without further
confirmation to the Bremen bank.
HongkongBank received further orders from the Dresden Bank and
Swiss Bank Corporation on Dec. 28, 1995. On the next day,
HongkongBank also received another order from the Swiss Bank
Corporation.
However, the last three telexes were only processed on Jan. 2,
1996, due to the New Year holiday. The order from the Dresden
Bank was canceled because it had not transferred its first order,
worth Rp 60 billion.
However, HongkongBank honored the fake orders from the Swiss
Bank to Modern Bank and Unibank.
"They knew of the fraud only after Unibank, which refused to
hand over the cash to the suspects, discovered irregularities in
the fake orders," Aryanto said. (bsr)