Sumarlin 'appears' again

Sumarlin 'appears' again

JAKARTA (JP): Former finance minister J.B. Sumarlin denied
yesterday that his three week absence from the country had
anything to do with the ongoing official investigation of the
blossoming Rp 1.3 trillion ($620 million) bank scandal.

Sumarlin said he was in Kyrgyzstan on an assignment from the
World Bank to help with the economic reformation in the former
Soviet republic.

"I have not been ill as some press reports have suggested," he
told reporters after informing President Soeharto about his trip
at Bina Graha.

A number of newspapers have speculated that Sumarlin had taken
a leave of absence because of the official investigation of the
scandal at Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo).

Others suggested that he was sick and undergoing medical
treatment in Germany.

Sumarlin, now the chairman of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK),
made his first public appearance since his return from Kyrgyzstan
yesterday.

There have been suggestions that Sumarlin pressured the
directors of Bapindo to extend a series of loans to Eddy Tansil
and his Golden Key Group, that have since turned sour.

While it is now almost certain the loans were improperly
approved, it remains unclear how high the level of official
involvement extends.

Yesterday all questions about Sumarlin's role in the loan
scandal were interrupted by Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono.

When asked whether he had supported the extension of the $430
million to the Golden Key Group, Moerdiono quickly took over the
floor and said that Sumarlin had already given his answers in
writing to the Attorney General's office, which is conducting the
investigation.

"Today, we don't discuss the substance," Moerdiono said.

On another occasion, Moerdiono even went so far as to
"correct" a reporter for asking questions.

The briefing was closed when he half-jokingly told Sumarlin "I
think you'd better go."

25 questions

Sumarlin, during the few times he was allowed to speak, said
he recalled there were about 25 questions posed in writing by the
Attorney General's office.

Asked whether he was willing to testify in court, Sumarlin
responded "From the beginning, I have supported the Attorney
General's steps in handling the case thoroughly. Whatever is
needed of me, I'm ready."

Sumarlin is just one of three former top government officials
who have been implicated in the Bapindo scandal.

The other two are Sudomo, former coordinating minister of
political affairs and security, and Nasruddin Sumintapura, former
junior finance minister. Sudomo is now chairman of the Supreme
Advisory Council and Nasruddin is one of its 45 members.

All three have apparently been questioned by the Attorney
General's office, but only as witnesses to help investigators
build their case against the six suspects thus far detained.

Moerdiono said yesterday that given their current positions,
the Attorney General needed the consent of President Soeharto to
question them, which has been granted.

Sumarlin said yesterday that his trip to Kyrgyzstan had been
delayed by one month because of the scandal, as he intended to
help with the investigation. He stressed that the trip had been
planned before the case became public in January.

Moerdiono added that neither Sumarlin nor Sudomo would need to
take a leave of absence to be questioned or testify in court.

Cooperative

On a separate occasion, cooperative leader Sri Edi Swasono
urged the government yesterday to postpone the payment of the
bankers' acceptances issued for Golden Key.

Sri Edi, who is also an executive of the Association of
Indigenous Entrepreneurs, said that since the loans were issued
in contravention of banking rules, the bankers acceptances should
be treated as invalid.

Government officials have made strong assurances that they
will take all steps necessary to see that the debts are paid on
time, arguing that non-payment of the important international
banking instruments could cause the nation's credit rating to
plummet

Some $350 million of such acceptances mature this month and
the government has been considering various ways of raising money
to bail out Bapindo, which is technically broke.

Sri Bintang was speaking yesterday after meeting with Deputy
Attorney General for Special Crime A. Sutomo, who is leading the
investigation. (02/emb)