Wanted banker falls to his death

JAKARTA (JP): A former chief commissioner of privately run Bank Perniagaan, Hindoro Budianto, 52, reportedly fell to his death Monday from the eighth floor of Hotel Marbela in Anyer, West Java.

Hindoro was allegedly connected to a bank scandal involving hundreds of billions of rupiah and has been on the police's most wanted list since 1997.

The Jakarta Police, which had been in charge of tracking him down, became aware of his whereabouts Sunday, Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said yesterday.

"He probably tried to escape and suddenly fell from the eighth floor to the third floor of the hotel," Aritonang said.

Hindoro and his family were staying at the hotel at the time.

At about 4 a.m. Monday, police came up to the two rooms where he and his family were staying and knocked on the doors, but nobody answered, he said.

Finally at about 5 a.m., Hindoro's daughter Indah Natalia came out of one of the two rooms to ask for the police's warrant. She argued that only the hotel's security officers were allowed to search the rooms, Aritonang explained.

At 5:30 a.m., hotel security guards heard a loud noise on the third floor and eventually found that Hindoro had fallen onto the balcony.

"He died on the way to Krakatau Steel Hospital in Cilegon at 7 a.m.," Aritonang added.

The police briefly detained Hindoro's family -- Indah Natalia, Mira Natalia, Lin Christine, Erlina, Titik, Herman, Aditya Halim, Elizabeth, King, Sri and two of Aditya's children.

"After the police checked their names and backgrounds, they found out that one of Hindoro's relatives, Aditya Halim, was also on the police's wanted list for corruption," he said.

Hindoro's body was reportedly scheduled to be cremated today.

City police officers are further investigating the case. (edt)