Possible new arrests in Bapindo case studied

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's office which is investigating the Rp 1.3 trillion ($620 million) loan scam at Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo) is still now studying whether or not it has sufficient grounds to arrest three other former directors of the government-owned bank.

Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes A. Sutomo, who is at the head of the investigation, told reporters on Saturday that his team had already questioned the three former directors and was now evaluating the results.

He confirmed that the three are Sjahrizal, Bambang Kuntjoro and Adi Sugondho who, along with Towil Heryoto and Subekti Ismaun, were members of the Bapindo board of directors.

It was the board of directors that was responsible for approving the $430 million loans to the Golden Key Group in 1989.

Towil and Subekti have both been arrested along with Maman Suparman, former deputy manager of the bank's Jakarta branch, and Eddy Tansil, owner of the Golden Key Group.

Sutomo said the Attorney General's office has frozen the bank accounts of all the suspects except Towil, stressing that the authorities did not see any need to take such action.

When asked about the fate of Sudomo, the chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council who has been implicated in the scandal, Sutomo said the authorities will question him if and when there is a need to do so.

He stressed that no one is immune from the law but there are certain procedures that must be followed when questioning officials of high state institutions like the Supreme Advisory Council.

Sudomo has acknowledged that he wrote a letter of reference to support Tansil's application for Bapindo loans but denied any wrongdoing. He added that the bank's executives had the final say in deciding whether or not the applicant was creditworthy.

Many people, including a number of magazines, were writing off Sudomo's political future when the retired Navy admiral won an endorsement from other members of the council to stay put and ignore calls for his resignation last week.

Sudomo had already answered written questions from the Attorney General's office.

Another former government official is rumored to be implicated is J.B. Sumarlin, the chairman of the Supreme Audit Agency who was finance minister in 1989.

Asked whether Sudomo and Sumarlin were involved in the scandal, Sutomo responded "I don't know." (02)