Prosecutors recover Rp 68.5b in BRI scam
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.