Staff steals Rp 3.6b from Bank DKI: Prosecutor

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office said on Thursday it was investigating the possible embezzlement of Rp 3.6 billion (US$400,000) by a Bank DKI employee in the latest in a string of alleged bank frauds.

The head of the intelligence division at the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, Farried Haryanto, said prosecutors were searching for Dwi Norman Putranto, a customer service employee at the Bank DKI Tebet Barat branch.

"We declared Dwi a suspect in the case after finding sufficient evidence against him. He was able to flee before we could arrest him. We have put him on our wanted list and have ordered our officers across the country to assist in his capture," Farried told The Jakarta Post.

Since early last year to June of this year, Dwi allegedly stole Rp 3.6 billion by transferring customers' money into an account he set up and withdrawing the money through ATMs.

Dwi allegedly stole the password of the branch head to gain access to customers' accounts.

"Somehow, the suspect had access to the password and used it to withdraw money," Farried said.

An internal audit conducted by Bank DKI's headquarters in June uncovered the questionable transfers and reportedly traced the transfers back to Dwi.

Dwi disappeared shortly after the audit uncovered the transfers.

The case was reported to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office in mid-December, while the branch head was removed from his post and placed in a non-operational unit pending the completion of the investigation.

Many observers have said that employee misconduct has been a key factor in many of the banking crimes committed over the last several years.

Last week, the Jakarta Police arrested two employees of Lippo Bank's Cideng branch for allegedly stealing Rp 164 million from customers' accounts.

Banking expert Fendi Susiyanto said some bank employees used their familiarity with the system to embezzle money.

"The banking system is becoming more and more dependent on technology. Insiders can misuse the system because they know about the internal system at their bank. The only way to prevent this is to improve a bank's internal audits," he said.

Bank fraud cases allegedly involving employees

No. Bank Modus Operandi Amount

1. DKI Tebet Barat employee transfers funds Rp 3.6 billion

branch from one account to another

and withdraws the money using

ATMs

2. Lippo Bank Cideng employees create fake ATM Rp 164 million

branch cards and saving books for inactive

accounts and withdraw the money

3. Several branches employees cooperate with Rp 1.95 trillion

of BNI, including businessmen using fake

Pondok Indah and collateral and letters of

Kebayoran Baru credit to apply for loans

4. BII Senen branch employees cooperate with Rp 31 billion

businessmen falsifying

signatures to withdraw

customers' money

5. Several branches employees cooperate with Rp 294 billion

of BRI, including businessmen illegally

Tanah Abang, authorizing transfer of

Senen and Bogor customers' funds to

other accounts