Suspected kidnappers detained

Suspected kidnappers detained

JAKARTA (JP): City police have detained a number of suspects
in connection with last month's kidnapping and beating of
businessman Sulaiman Ramli, better known as Han Seng, which was
apparently intended to extract repayment of a debt which a
private bank claims the businessman owes to it.

Speaking to reporters here yesterday, Crime Investigation
Directorate Secretary Lt. Col. Primanto declined to give details
of the suspects, saying that police were still looking for
additional clues.

"Today I can only reveal that there are more than one
suspect," said Primanto, a former West Jakarta police chief.

He neither confirmed nor denied the rumor, circulating widely,
that police and military personnel were deeply involved in the
incident.

Late last month, businessman Han Seng, through his lawyer
Bambang Hartono, reported to City Police headquarters that he had
been kidnapped and beaten by a group of about 20 people,
including a police officer whom he identified as Lt. Col. Alfon,
an officer of the Economic Crime Investigation Directorate at the
National Police Headquarters.

Han Seng alleged that the group came to his house at 11 p.m.
on May 12. They proceeded to hit and kick him, and then dragged
him to a van where officer Alfon was waiting, he said.

According to Han Seng, the men continued to abuse him in the
parking lot of Satria Mandala military museum on Jl. Gatot
Subroto, South Jakarta.

Han Seng said that the men had warned him not to report the
incident to the police. "They said if I reported the incident to
the police they would kill my relatives one by one," he said.

Although Han Seng sustained several injuries in the incident,
he was fit enough to be questioned by police investigators a few
days ago, Lt. Col. Primanto said yesterday.

According to Han Seng, the incident had something was related
to a 1990 Rp 3.6 billion (US$1.6 million) loan from the Panin
Bank.

He said that the money had actually been borrowed by an
acquaintance of his who worked at the bank, Lay Mei Lin. He said
that his name, rather than Lay Mei Lin's, had been used in the
loan transaction because the bank's regulations did not permit an
employee to apply for a loan.

He said that under an agreement between the two, Han Seng
obtained the Rp 3.6 million loan from the bank but later gave the
money to Lay Mei Lin, who then handed it over to her brother,
Hariyanto Latief, who agreed to repay the money to the bank.

Three years later, Han Seng said, the bank asked him to repay
the loan. Han Seng then told Latief, who had used the money to
import luxury cars, to repay the money to the bank. But Latief
declared himself bankrupt.

On the basis of the loan agreement, the bank kept asking Han
Seng to repay the loan and, finally, hired debt collectors to
exert pressure on him.

Officer Alfon is believed to be under intensive questioning at
National Police headquarters.

City police detectives have questioned a number of people,
including executives of the Panin Bank, in connection with the
case.

Amir Syamsuddin, lawyer of one of the executives, said
recently that Panin Bank knew nothing about documents other than
the loan agreement between the Panin Bank, the creditor, and Han
Seng, the debtor.

The lawyer also denied that Mei Lin was an officer of the
bank. "Mei Lin was not a Panin Bank officer nor a bank customer,"
he said.

Further, Amir denied that the bank had been involved in the
kidnapping and beating of Han Seng, although he conceded that
Panin Bank did routinely hire people to encourage debtors to
repay their loans.

"But, if those people coerce and beat the debtors it is not
our responsibility, because our agreement with them does not ask
them to do that," he said. (bsr)