Trial of former Bapindo boss will start next week
JAKARTA (JP): Three former cabinet ministers are expected to take the witness stand during the trial of Towil Heryoto, a former director of the scandal-ridden Bapindo state bank.
The trial is slated to begin at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday. The court's chief justice, Soedjatman, made the announcement yesterday and said he will lead the panel of judges in the trial.
Towil Heryoto is one of four former Bapindo directors suspected of involvement in the scam, which is reported to have defrauded the state to the tune of Rp 1.3 trillion (US$ 620 million).
The trial promises to disclose more details of the loan scam as the three former cabinet ministers are expected to clarify their role in the affair.
The three are former coordinating minister of political affairs and security Sudomo, former finance minister J.B. Sumarlin and former junior finance minister Nasrudin Sumintapura. All three still hold high government posts as chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), chairman of the Supreme Audit Board and member of DPA, respectively.
Towil's trial follows those of Eddy Tansil, the owner of the Golden Key Group of companies to whom the loans were extended, and Maman Suparman, the former deputy manager of Bapindo's Jakarta branch. Both these trials are now reaching their closing stages.
Three other former Bapindo directors are still being questioned by the Attorney General's office and their dossiers are expected to be presented to the court soon. They are Sjahrizal, Subekti Ismaun and Bambang Kuntjoro.
Meanwhile, at Maman's trial yesterday, the prosecutors urged the court to ignore the defense arguments presented both by the defendant and his lawyers.
The prosecutors rejected all points in the arguments and persisted in demanding that the court sentence Maman to 13 years imprisonment for his role in the scam.
Government prosecutors also rejected the explanation of the defendant's source of wealth, which Maman claimed came entirely from savings and earnings he made from 1984 to 1993, totaling RP423 million ($197,000).
The prosecutors said that the defendant had marked up the amount of his savings and earnings by using a high average interest rate of 20 percent per year and extending the period of time to 1993, two years after he bought a Rp365-million house in an exclusive residential area at Pulomas, East Jakarta.
The prosecutors also said that Maman had admitted in earlier court sessions that he had received bribes for several credits which he helped to get approved.
In a related development, a former district head testified yesterday in a court in Serang, West Java, that he had received payments from Tansil's employee "as a token of gratitude." These payments were reportedly made after he helped approve the acquisition of 64,300 square meters of land in Argawana village, between 1990 and 1991.
Raden K. Husein, who was the head of the Bojonegara district, said he also received other payments for issuing the necessary documents for the land. These payments reportedly amounted to 0.5 percent of the land price of Rp482 million.
Husein was testifying in the trial of a man, identified only by the initials STB, who was being tried for selling state-owned land to the Golden Key Group of companies owned by Tansil.
Today, Tansil's trial is scheduled to move to the area where Tansil had planned to build an integrated petrochemical industry project. (05)