Retired general lodges complaints against Amex

JAKARTA (JP): A former chief of the Armed Forces Intelligence Agency (BIA), Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsir Siregar, has lodged a complaint of alleged defamation and improper treatment against his credit card provider American Express Bank in Singapore.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang told reporters on Wednesday that Syamsir, 57, reported the case to the Jakarta Police on Sept. 21 and charged that the bank had distributed letters of notification to several banks in Jakarta stating that Syamsir was not trustworthy and that the banks should avoid any business dealings with him.

The notification was also sent to PT Japfa Comfeed Indonesia, where Syamsir is the firm's deputy chief commissioner, Aritonang said.

The spokesman did not disclose why the police only revealed the case a week after Syamsir, who served as BIA chief from 1994 to 1996, lodged the complaint.

Syamsir was quoted by Aritonang as saying that he only learned about the widely circulated notification of his status a few days before he reported the case when his Amex credit card was rejected by a bank in Jakarta.

"The bank officials told him that his name was included on Amex's blacklist. They even showed him a copy of the notification signed by the Amex president director in Singapore, Sylvia Marie Challita," Aritonang said.

Syamsir felt that he had never made trouble for Amex, either in Jakarta or Singapore, so he hurriedly lodged the complaint, Aritonang said.

In the notification letter, Challita also acted as the representative for 11 other private banks in Singapore.

In an attempt to crosscheck Syamsir's report, the Jakarta Police summoned Challita, who lives in Singapore, for questioning but she failed to respond, Aritonang said.

Amex's lawyer, identified as Daniel Tan, went to the Jakarta Police headquarters on Friday, asking the police to arrange a meeting with Syamsir to clarify the matter, he said.

"But Syamsir refused to meet the lawyer and plans to go on with the lawsuit."

The police is scheduled to summon Challita again for questioning some time next week, he said.

Should the Amex president director fail to appear for clarification, the Jakarta Police might ask their counterparts in Singapore to follow up the probe, Aritonang said.

"Perhaps, we'll contact the Singapore Police for help," he hinted.

The officer emphasized that the police needed to investigate the case thoroughly because the situation could also arise with other Indonesians who hold the Amex credit cards.

"As far as I know the bank (Amex) has good credibility but how could they allow such a thing to happen," he said.

He suggested Amex should first notify a client and inform him or her what was wrong before distributing such a "warning letter" to other parties.

None of the American Express Bank executives here were available to comment on the matter. (emf)