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.