Witness insists Sjahril attended Feb. 11 meeting

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)