Suspect bank officers in BNI scam start mudslinging

Suspect bank officers in BNI scam start mudslinging

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Bank officers in the Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) scam have
responded to the high profile graft case by slinging a startling
array of mud at one other.

Rivai M. Noer, a lawyer for former BNI Kebayoran Baru branch
manager and suspect Kusadiyuwono said on Thursday that his client
was often bypassed in the bogus letters of credit disbursement by
the foreign customer relations head Edi Santoso, another suspect
in the scandal.

"My client doesn't know anything about the transactions
involving Edi and the businessmen. Most of the disbursements of
ill-gotten money was done without consent from Kusadiyuwono,"
Rivai said.

Both Kusadiyuwono and Edi are currently in police custody as
suspects in the case, which centers around the redemption of 41
faked letters of credits, involving several foreign banks in
Africa and Europe, worth Rp 1.7 by BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch in
South Jakarta from July 2002 through June 2003.

A total of 11 people, including key suspect Adrian Waworuntu,
are currently in police custody being interrogated. Another key
suspect, Maria Paulien Lumowa, is still at large.

The case took on a political dimension when rumors began to be
widely circulated in several local newspapers and TV stations
that three of the Golkar presidential candidates were somehow
involved in the scandal. Edi told the press on Tuesday that he
met Gen. (ret) Wiranto twice in the course of disbursing the
funds, suggesting that he had been psychologically pressured into
disbursing the letters of credits issued by questionable overseas
banks.

Wiranto, one of Golkar's seven presidential candidates has
denied that he knew or had meetings with Edi. He also filed a
complaint with the police against Edi and his lawyer Herman
Kadir.

Edi, according to Rivai, had proceeded with the transactions
even without his client's approval. He added that his client knew
Ollah Agam, another suspect, only, and that it was Edi who
introduced him to Ollah in November 2002.

"Kusadiyuwono has never met any of the (detained) suspects in
the case or with Wiranto," said Rivai, while reiterating that his
client did not know Wiranto at all.

However, Rivai did not specify how many letters of credits had
possibly been disbursed without Kusadiyuwono's notification.

Another BNI suspect, Nirwan Ali, the former operational
manager of the branch, was questioned intensively by the police
on Thursday but released because he has just undergone a heart
operation. He has made no public comment so far.

Meanwhile, Edi's lawyer Herman Kadir said that all the
statements made by Kuasdiyuwono's lawyer were lies.

"No, they are not true. The finalization of the transactions
should be made by the branch manager and someone at headquarters.
My client could not possibly disburse money without their
approval," said Herman.

He also said that he was ready to take on a lawsuit filed by
Wiranto's lawyers because he had 20 lawyers to back him up.

Edi revealed in a letter to the press on Tuesday that he had
met with Wiranto, twice during the period in which the scam was
going on, concerning Wiranto's plan to run for president in 2004.

Wiranto, trough his lawyers, denied on Wednesday all of the
contents of the letter, stating that he did not know Edi or any
of the scandal suspects.

Police said that they were not aware of the letter released by
Edi Santoso to the press but promised to investigate all
allegations.