Police to question fugitive's lawyer and doctor
Police to question fugitive's lawyer and doctor
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After letting a key suspect in a multibillion dollar bank fraud
case slip through their fingers, the police have summoned the
fugitive's lawyer and doctor for a questioning regarding their
client's escape.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman said on Monday
both the lawyer and doctor would be declared suspects if there
was evidence they had harbored Gramarindo Group director Adrian
Waworuntu or helped him evade arrest.
"Police investigators will determine their status," Paiman
said.
Adrian is wanted for his role in a Rp 1.7 trillion (US$185
million) scandal involving state bank BNI 46.
Citing health concerns, Adrian asked the police for a seven-
day stay for medical reasons on Sept. 23 through his lawyer, Doni
Antares Irawan, who guaranteed his client would surrender himself
to the police on Oct. 1.
Police approved the request, despite their knowledge that
Sept. 23 was the deadline for them to transfer Adrian's case to
the prosecutors.
A police source said the investigators gave their approval
because they had no idea about his whereabouts and hoped he would
keep his promise.
The police, however, had earlier said they knew Adrian was in
his hometown of Kotamobagu in Bolaang Mongandow, North Sulawesi,
and said they would pick him up as soon as possible.
When the police searched for Adrian in Kotamobagu on Sept. 30,
they returned empty handed. The police declared him a fugitive a
day later.
The police say they now believe Adrian had never been in
Kotamobagu during the past two weeks, and they have became
suspicious a letter from his doctor, F. Winerungan, that states
he was sick, was faked.
National Police director for special crimes Brig. Gen. Samuel
Ismoko has said police had informally talked to Winerungan and
Doni about their client's whereabouts.
Paiman said police would interrogate Winerungan and Doni
further as a part of the legal process.
Police believed Adrian had not fled Indonesia as the
Immigration Office had no record of his departure overseas. The
travel ban imposed on Adrian remained effective, Paiman said.
Another main suspect, Maria Pauline Lumowa, the owner of
Gramarindo Group, the company that received the BNI money, has
escaped arrest by fleeing to Singapore.
She is now reportedly staying in the Netherlands. Maria has
repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the affair.
In many fraud or graft cases suspects have left the country
with the consent of law enforcers or because of their failure to
impose travel bans.
Several businesspeople from the Gramarindo and Petindo groups
were accused of swindling the second-largest bank in the country
from 2002 to 2003. They allegedly obtained loans by using fake
letters of credit from banks in Congo and Kenya to withdraw money
from BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch.
Out of 16 suspects in the case, seven of them, including
Koesadiyuwono and Edi Santoso from the BNI Kebayoran Baru branch,
have been convicted.
Koesadiyuwono received a 15-year jail term, Edi got life
imprisonment, while five of Gramarindo's directors have been
jailed for between eight and 15 years.