Witness insists Sjahril attended Feb. 11 meeting

JAKARTA (JP): Former deputy chairman of Bank Bali Firman Soetjahja confirmed on Thursday that Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin attended a Feb. 11, 1999 meeting at Hotel Mulia in Central Jakarta which discussed measures to accelerate the bank's loan disbursement from the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

"Pak Sjahril Sabirin attended the meeting, which was chaired by Baramuli (A.A. Baramuli, then Supreme Advisory Council chairman), while Djoko (Djoko S. Tjandra, the defendant) was the one who invited Bank Bali officials to the meeting," he told the hearing of the high profile Bank Bali scandal at the South Jakarta District Court, presided over by judge Soedarto.

Firman's testimony contradicted the central bank governor's statement in the previous court hearing that he was not present and did not know about the meeting.

Firman said the meeting participants also included then state minister of investment and state enterprises development Tanri Abeng, then IBRA deputy chairman Pande Lubis, Firman himself, executives of PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) Setya Novanto and Djoko S. Tjandra.

He said Baramuli once questioned Sjahril and Pande Lubis over the sluggish disbursement of the loan.

"Baramuli asked officials of both the central bank and IBRA why the loan was yet to be disbursed, although the proposal had been submitted since late 1998," he said.

Three private banks -- Bank BDNI, Bank Tiara and Bank Umum Nasional -- borrowed a total of Rp 904 billion (US$108.9 million) from Bank Bali, but they were unable to repay the loans until they were closed down by the central bank in late 1998 due to poor financial records.

The bank asked the government for the loan disbursement as it had put Bank Bali under a restructuring program.

Despite Baramuli's dominant role in the meeting, Firman however, was unable to say who Baramuli represented in the meeting.

"I knew that he was the Supreme Advisory Council chairman. But I did not know his capacity in the meeting," he said.

Baramuli was also a member of the Golkar Party's Supervisory Board at that time, while Setya Novanto was a treasurer of Golkar.

The Bank Bali scandal centers on the transfer of Rp 546 billion from the bank to PT EGP. The money was paid as commission for the company's assistance in recouping Bank Bali's some Rp 904 billion in interbank loans on closed banks under the supervision of IBRA.

Part of the money was believed to have been transferred to the Golkar Party to finance the presidential campaign of then president B.J. Habibie.

Firman said the meeting recommended that the Bank's executives write a letter to IBRA's chairman asking for his assistance in recovering its interbank loans. IBRA disbursed the loan on June 1 last year.

Rudy Ramli, the bank's former president director, who also testified at Thursday's hearing, said confirmation of the loan disbursement was revealed on May 26 last year in a meeting at the residence of then minister of finance Bambang Subianto.

"After the meeting, businessman Marimutu Manimaren told me that the disbursement was okay," Rudy told the hearing, adding that the meeting was attended by Bambang, Djoko, Manimaren and himself.

Manimaren was an activist of the Golkar Party.

Djoko denied in Thursday's hearing that he, Manimaren and Bambang discussed the loan disbursement while Rudy was waiting for them outside the house.

"I asked the advice of the finance minister about the Mulia Group's bad debt at IBRA, worth US$62 million," he said.

Djoko is also an executive of the diversified Mulia Group of companies.

Judge Soedarto adjourned the hearing until Monday to hear testimonies from other witnesses. (asa)