Two firms implicated in BNI scandal fictitious

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Magelang police stated that a local Bank Mandiri was not the victim of a loan scandal, but that the new scandal involved a Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) branch in Magelang, Central Java, and US$3.19 million.

Earlier on Friday, Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi had said that Bank Mandiri's Magelang branch was the center of the scandal.

However, the two companies implicated in the now confirmed BNI scandal, PT Prasetya Cipta Tulada and PT Maestro Utama Inter Buana, appeared to be fictitious. The addresses of the firms belonged to two residential houses, which showed no signs of business activities, The Jakarta Post learned.

In Magelang, Kedu Police chief of detectives Comr. RM Adityo said officers were gathering more information on the two companies and the loan scandal.

"No one has been named a suspect in the case so far. Everything is still being investigated," he said.

Adityo said Kedu Police detectives had requested information from Magelang industry and trade official Siswoyo in connection with a business license issued on Feb. 19, 2003 for PT Prasetya Cipta Tulada.

Siswoyo said the company was registered as a granite trader with a head office in Jakarta.

However, the house apparently used by the company on Jl. Pahlawan Prajenan, Mertoyudan subdistrict, Magelang, was found to be devoid of business activities.

The family who lives in the house said the it was used by PT Prasetya Cipta Tulada only as a forwarding address.

Yet, they claimed to have forgotten the name of the individual using their home address.

The house on Jl. Raden Saleh, No. 1, Magelang, the listed address for PT Maestro Utama Inter Buana, was empty and in disuse.

Separately, Bank Mandiri stressed that its Magelang branch was not the center of the US$3.19 million loan scandal.

"An audit showed that nothing has happened at our Magelang branch," said Sambodo Prijo, a senior Bank Mandiri official in Semarang, Central Java.