Soedradjad questioned on BLBI malfeasance
Soedradjad questioned on BLBI malfeasance
JAKARTA (JP): Former Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Soedradjad
Djiwandono was again questioned on Wednesday about alleged misuse
of some Rp 144.5 trillion in liquidity supports to 48 commercial
banks between 1997 and 1999, Attorney General's Office spokesman
Muljohardjo said.
But Muljohardjo added that the questioning was focused on
Soedradjad's knowledge of the liquidity assistance channeled to
Bank Modern.
"Soedradjad admitted that some Rp 766 billion out of the Rp
2.5 trillion extended to Bank Modern was misused. Instead of
disbursing the liquidity assistance to reimburse depositors, the
bank allocated the money for other purposes, including buying
foreign currency for speculative purposes and lending to its
affiliated business groups," Muljohardjo said.
Muljohardjo said that Soedradjad, who was at the central
bank's helm when the alleged corruption took place, admitted that
the disbursement of the emergency loans was with the consent of
the central bank's board of directors and was designed to help
the banks cope with massive deposit withdrawals during the peak
of the financial crisis.
During the 12-hour interrogation, Soedradjad also admitted
that the central bank's board of directors issued Ruling No.
30/50/DIR/UKP on Dec. 30, 1997, which extended special overnight
liquidity supports on condition that the recipients should never
have a negative balance at the central bank after Dec. 31, 1997.
"If the banks failed this requirement, they were given one day
to repay the loans or they would be excluded from bank clearing
for five days in a row. Otherwise, the banks were to be merged,
nationalized or wound up.
"However, although the banks repeatedly had negative balances
between Dec. 31, 1997 and December 1998, the central bank kept
disbursing the loans," Muljohardjo told journalists while
revealing the results of the prosecutors' interrogation of
Soedradjad.
An audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) unveiled that some
95 percent of the emergency loans were either misused or extended
in violation of banking regulations.
Muljohardjo also referred to BI letter No. 23/237/UPG dated
Feb. 28, 1991, which stated that the central bank could only
disburse three percent of its deposits as insurance during a bank
run.
"But our investigation found that instead of reimbursing three
percent of the deposits, the central bank channeled emergency
loans amounting to as much as the commercial banks' debit
balances," he said.
Also quizzed on Wednesday were two BI directors, Aulia Pohan
and Miranda Goeltom.
State prosecutors also quizzed the former and active BI
executives over their knowledge of the emergency loans extended
to the now defunct Bank Dagang Negara Indonesia (BDNI).
This bank received some Rp 37 trillion in liquidity assistance
from Oct. 15, 1997 to Jan. 29, 1999. Prosecutors found that some
Rp 4 trillion of this sum was misused by the bank's director
Sjamsul Nursalim, who has been named a suspect in the case.
Muljohardjo said that the disbursement of liquidity facilities
to BDNI after December 1997 was based upon an agreement signed by
Aulia and Miranda in their capacities as directors.
However, Miranda claimed to know nothing of the liquidity
support, saying that she had just been installed as director for
one day when the loan was disbursed to the bank.
"The prosecutors asked me about definitions...I didn't know
anything about BDNI. It's strange I was questioned for something
I wasn't involved in," she said before leaving the Attorney
General's Office compound after the three-hour questioning.
The state prosecutors expect former Supreme Advisory Council
chief A.A. Baramuli on Thursday for questioning as a witness in a
loan scandal involving a central bank subsidiary, the Amsterdam-
based N.V. Indover Bank. (bby)