Witnesses implicate former IBRA official in Bank Bali scandal

JAKARTA (JP): Five witnesses giving testimony in the trial of Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin have implicated Pande Nasorahona Lubis, who was previously acquitted by a court in the same corruption case, as one of the masterminds of the Bank Bali scandal.

The five executives of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) insisted that Pande, a former IBRA deputy chairman, played a crucial role in the repayment of Rp 904 billion (US$ 108.9 million) out of the agency's funds to Bank Bali in 1999.

Indro Roesito Soenyoto, the head of the agency's bank liabilities division, in his testimony said that Bank Indonesia refused to repay the money to Bank Bali because the refund time had passed the deadline.

"However, Pak Pande insisted on processing the claim. His decision came out after he attended a meeting at Bank Indonesia headquarters on Feb. 8, 1999. The meeting was also attended by representatives of Bank Bali and IBRA," Indro told presiding judge Soebardi.

The trial is taking place in the Central Jakarta District Court and is being attended by Sjahril.

The Attorney General's Office detained Sjahril for 120 days up to Oct. 18, 2000, as a suspect in the Bank Bali scandal. He was then placed under house arrest until Nov. 6, 2000. Sjahril resumed his duties as the central bank chief after his release.

The scandal centers on the repayment of loans extended by Bank Bali to two defunct private banks -- Bank BDNI and Bank Umum National. The government took over all the third party liabilities of closed banks at that time.

Saying that Pande was innocent of any wrongdoing, in November the South Jakarta District Court acquitted him of all charges.

Juzak Kazan, a credit division officer, said on Wednesday that he himself was present at the February meeting. According to him, IBRA also rejected the repayment plan in accordance with the central bank decision.

"Bank Indonesia, however, asked whether IBRA wanted to proceed with it. And Pande himself promised to follow up on the problem," Juzak said referring to the decision made at the meeting.

Another witness, Edgar Affandy, said his superior Pande had instructed him to process the repayment of the money to Bank Bali.

When asked by the judge whether the instruction "to process" meant that he must stop or continue it, Edgar said, "It meant that I had to continue processing it immediately."

The trial was adjourned until Monday to hear more testimony from witnesses. (02)