The Bank Bali saga
The truth about the Bank Bali scandal is slowly unfolding, as one by one the main players relent and begin revealing bits and pieces of information about their involvement in testimony at the House of Representatives. We are now well into the second month since Baligate hit newspaper headlines, but have only seen a few of the pieces which make up this mysterious jigsaw puzzle. It will likely be sometime before we get to the bottom of the case, as most of the major players are uncooperative and unwilling to volunteer information, unless they are forced to do so. What they have done so far is to provide information that incriminates people other than themselves. Since the end is nowhere near in sight, we may as well sit back and enjoy the show.
The Bank Bali scandal is turning into a long-running saga which has almost all the elements of a melodrama or soap opera. It is about huge sums of money involving people in high places, if not the President -- an allegation which is yet to be substantiated -- then certainly of people in his circle. In the most recent revelations in House testimony, the scandal has revealed backstabbing and betrayal. The bank could not have picked a more exotic name. There has been no murder, thank God, but there have been threats made to the lives of the whistle- blowers. The only thing missing in the picture is that there is no sex scandal. It would certainly liven up this otherwise dull all-male cast, which has nevertheless kept the nation if not in suspense, then certainly amused.
Last week's testimony by former Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli shed a little light on the case, just as we thought the scandal, like others involving people in high places in this country, had been buried and forgotten. For a short while, momentum in the case had stalled, as public attention was drawn to allegations of other scandals involving other banks and other players. Rudy's testimony shifted the focus back onto the key question that has been left unanswered: who masterminded the affair?
There is no doubt in everyone's minds that what happened in Bank Bali was a daylight robbery of taxpayers' money. Bank Bali, as one of the nation's reputable and conservatively managed banks, fell prey to a game played by shrewd politicians. The bank was trying to recoup interbank loans from banks which had been taken over by the government. Management was on the verge of giving up the attempt when along came two well-connected businessmen offering services to recover the loans, at a 60 percent commission. They recovered the money, obviously in collusion with people in the government, and collected the commission, about US$80 million in all. Bank Bali has now been taken over by the Standard Chartered Bank, but it is eligible for the massive government bailout recapitalization program.
This much we know. But where that commission money ended up remains a mystery, as long as Bank Indonesia refuses, under the pretext of bank secrecy laws, to allow investigators trace payments of the commission. There are no shortage of theories, including one that claims the funds went to the coffers of a special team to secure the election of President B.J. Habibie in November. This theory gained currency after Rudy's claim that during his negotiations to recoup the bank's money he went to a meeting attended by people from Habibie's inner circle.
The players -- in their attempts to cover up their own, or their bosses' complicity -- are giving conflicting testimonies that muddle the situation. This explains why progress in trying to unravel the case has been painfully slow. Police have barely began their own investigation, leaving the House of Representatives to take the initiative and summon all the major players in the scandal.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank appear to be less patient than most Indonesians. They are withholding further disbursement of aid to Indonesia, pending satisfactory clarification of the Bank Bali scandal. It is doubtful whether their threats will speed up the search for the truth. They, like the rest of the people in this country, will just have to watch the melodrama being played out, and pray that there will be a happy ending, not for the players, but for the nation.