Six bankers held over Rp 200b fraud

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested six executives of the privately owned Bank Dwipa for their alleged role in a Rp 200 billion (US$66.70 million) fraud related to the bank's issuance of commercial papers, certificates and deposits.

National Police Detective Corps Commander Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi said yesterday that his personnel were still tracing the owner of the bank, Bambang Sumiono, to ascertain his involvement in the scam.

Nurfaizi said the six executives were arrested during separate raids in the past seven days in Jakarta.

The suspects are Bank Dwipa's operations director Benny Ondong; marketing director M. Wiyono; the head of the accounting division, Suwandi; marketing employee Harry Yanuar; authorization staffer Iwan Muchtar and Bambang's right-hand man Yudi Danuar.

Nurfaizi said that Yudi had already been arrested by the City Police for his alleged involvement in another bank fraud, the Rp 800 billion Bank Perniagaan scam.

"The six arrested suspects used a similar strategy to many suspects in other bank scams to manipulate the data," he said. They are all still being questioned.

They issued commercial papers, certificates and deposits to the public but did not record the deals in full.

Nurfaizi the central bank, Bank Indonesia, unearthed the scam in June during an audit of the bank's financial records.

If the investigation proves that the suspects cheated the customers by manipulating the transaction money, they will be charged under Article 378 of the Criminal Code on fraud, which carries a maximum of 15 years imprisonment and a Rp 10 billion fine.

If they are then found guilty of taking advantage of their position in the bank to manipulate the bank's books and figures, they will be charged under the 1971 Corruption Law Number 3 and face a maximum 20-year prison sentence and/or a Rp 30 million fine. (cst)