Prosecutors recover Rp 68.5b in BRI scam

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office has recovered since September Rp 68.5 billion (US$8.1 million) of the Rp 294 billion lost in the Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) scandal, following a probe into over 30 accounts at several banks into which the money had been channeled.

"As of today, we have recovered Rp 68.5 billion in a secure account at BRI Senen after investigating several accounts at Bank International Indonesia and Citibank. We hope to recover even more as we continue our investigation," Marwan Effendi, assistant to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office chief for special crimes, said on Friday.

He added that prosecutors -- armed with permission to open bank secrecy from Bank Indonesia -- planned to look into many more accounts at many banks, including several BRI branches as well as other domestic and foreign banks.

Marwan declined to reveal the names of those banks.

Prosecutors are expected to complete the dossiers of three BRI officials suspected of involvement in the case by next week, then will compile dossiers on two businessmen. The five are in the custody of the Prosecutor's Office.

The loan scandal is believed to have been orchestrated by several officials at three BRI branches, along with the two businessmen.

The three officials are: head of BRI Senen, Central Jakarta, Deden Gumilar; head of Surya Kencana sub-branch, Bogor, Asep Tarwan; and Central Jakarta sub-branch head Agus Riyanto. The two businessmen are Yudi Kartolo and Hartono, owner and director of PT Delta Experindo, respectively.

"For now, we will charge them under Law No. 31/1999 and Law No. 20/2001 on corruption. Later, if necessary, we will also add charges at court under the law on money laundering," said Marwan.

Of the Rp 294 billion stolen funds, some Rp 70 billion had belonged to PT Jamsostek, a state insurance firm.

In an earlier case, Jamsostek funds were also misappropriated by a private company when a Rp 200 billion transfer from BRI Sudirman to Bank Mandiri Prapatan was used as collateral without Jamsostek's approval. Eight Bank Mandiri and Jamsostek employees have so far been convicted in the case.

Police are now investigating the possibilities of an illegal transfer that involved BRI and Jamsostek officials, and already questioned BRI president director Rudjito on Tuesday. They plan to interrogate Jamsostek president director Achmad Junaidi next week.