Prosecutors quiz top Mandiri official over alleged graft
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A top Bank Mandiri official was grilled by prosecutors for more than six hours on Thursday over a massive corruption scandal involving up to Rp 12 trillion (US$1.3 billion) worth of bank loans and 33 companies.
I Wayan Pugeg, vice president of the state-owned bank, arrived at 9.30 a.m. at the Attorney General's Office (AGO), accompanied by four lawyers. At 7 p.m. his questioning was still in progress. This is the second time Pugeg has been summoned as a witness in the case.
Investigators have said that the first stage of the investigation would focus on the alleged irregularities in the channeling of more than 1 trillion (about US$107 million) of loans to four companies.
The four companies are TV broadcaster PT Lativi Media Karya, PT Cipta Graha Nusantara/Tahta Medan (CGN/TM), PT Siak Zamrud Pusaka and PT Arutmin.
Meanwhile, the Asian edition of the Financial Times, citing prosecutor's documents, said that the probe would eventually look at loans of up to Rp 12.3 trillion to 33 different companies.
This figure could not be immediately confirmed and prosecutors before today said the loans involved more than 4 trillion rupiah to more 28 companies
Observers say the questioning of Pugeg would help speed up the investigation process, which they say is much-needed evidence of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's campaign to clamp down on white collar crime in the country.
The case is shaping up to be one of the largest lending scandals in the country since the late 1990s Asian financial crisis. Reports indicate the scandal could also involve many prominent figures.
AGO spokesman R.J. Soehandojo told The Jakarta Post that Pugeg was questioned for the second time about his relationship with the four companies. However, Soehandojo stressed Pugeg had not been named a suspect yet.
"It is possible that after the investigators study the case they will find that Pugeg was connected to this case. Since there are four companies in this case, the investigators need to probe into each of them," Soehandojo said.
Soehandojo said he did not know if Pugeg was connected with the companies. Only the AGO investigators knew that, he said.
Previously, the investigators arrested three top officials from PT CGN/TM for allegedly embezzling Rp 165 billion in loans obtained from Bank Mandiri.
They also questioned four Mandiri directors -- M. Sholeh Tasripan (director of corporate banking), Omar S. Anwar (director of consumer banking), K. Keat Lee (director of finance and strategy) and also I Wayan Pugeg -- and three other officials in charge of giving the loans to the four companies.
A lawyer for the three PT CGN/TM suspects, Frans Hendra Winarta, claimed his clients had returned some Rp 160 billion from of the Rp 165 billion loan obtained from Bank Mandiri in 2002.
"My clients have returned most of the loan to Bank Mandiri in 2002 and the rest (Rp 5 billion) is still being used for the company's operational costs," Frans said. Because of this, there should be no reason for his clients detention, he said.
"The loan was used to renovate a hotel in Medan (Tiara Hotel) and build a new tower. The renovation is finished but the tower had not been built yet due to technical reasons," Frans said.