Singgih not to punish jailed banker

Singgih not to punish jailed banker

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Singgih said yesterday his office would not punish former banker Dicky Iskandar Di Nata in connection with allegations he violated prison rules.

Singgih said Dicky is under the supervision of the prison system, and that his warden had the authority to discipline him if deemed necessary.

Dicky, who is serving an eight-year prison term for manipulation of bank funds, faces accusations that he sexually harassed a woman while he was out working under a reassimilation program which allows him to leave the prison between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily.

"Dicky was not released on his own recognizance. He was out working under the prison reassimilation program," Singgih told reporters after a hearing with Commission III of the House of Representatives, which deals with legal affairs, yesterday.

He said that anyone in the reassimilation program has to report back to the penitentiary at the appointed time each day.

The reassimilation program requires that convicts make an effort to return to society by carrying out routine, daily activities outside of the prison, such as working at a company.

Dicky was sentenced by the Central Jakarta District Court in 1991 for abusing his position as vice president of Bank Duta from 1988 to August 1990 in foreign exchange margin trading with Citibank in Jakarta, the National Bank of Kuwait and several banks in Singapore.

Losses due to Dicky's foreign exchange trading cost Bank Duta Rp 811 billion.

Singgih also said that his office will require Dicky to compensate the bank for the losses as stated in the court's verdict, despite Dicky's claims that he has no assets to replace the money with.

Dicky, almost forgotten, made news again on Monday when a woman, Titi Wulandari Prihatin, 27, filed a complaint against him with the City Police, saying that the former vice president of Bank Duta had sexually assaulted her three times.

Titi's lawyer, Ruhut Sitompul, said that the first incident took place at the Equatorial hotel in Central Jakarta late in the evening on Nov. 13. Dicky allegedly gave the married woman an unidentified pill to knock her out. The woman said she awoke disrobed and had to fight him off.

The second incident reportedly occurred a month later, when Dicky allegedly tried to hug and kiss her at her office, PT Mesana Investama Utama, a securities company in the Setiabudhi Building I on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, the lawyer said.

The third reportedly occurred on Jan. 11, when Dicky saw Titi at the same office and allegedly attempted to kiss her.

Titi, who earlier claimed to be a minor shareholder of PT Mesana Investama Utama, was fired from the securities company on Tuesday.

Dicky, represented by lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat, responded to her allegations by filing a complaint with the City Police on Thursday.

Henry said that he had strong evidence and witnesses to testify that the woman had fabricated the story for the police and the press.

He said that because of the recent mass media coverage about the allegations of sexual harassment, Dicky has been forbidden to leave the penitentiary by the warden. (imn)