Possible new arrests in Bapindo case studied

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)