BI governor questioned by KPK

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 03/29/2008 11:12 AM  |  National

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah on Friday about a series of meetings he led prior to the controversial disbursement of central bank funds between 2003 and 2004.

Burhanuddin said the graft body also asked him questions about the meetings during three previous questioning sessions.

"I hope my explanations can help the KPK solve the problem immediately," he told journalists after the questioning, which began around 10 a.m. and lasted three hours.

The KPK has named Burhanuddin, BI legal affairs director Oey Hoey Tiong and the former head of the BI communications bureau (now head of the central bank in Surabaya), Rusli Simanjuntak, as suspects in the misappropriation of Rp 100 billion (US$10.81 million) in central bank funds.

In March, June and July 2003, the central bank held three deputy governors' meetings to discuss the distribution of the money.

Burhanuddin led the June and July meetings in which all the deputy governors agreed to distribute Rp 68.5 billion to cover the legal fees of several central bank officials, including Iwan R. Prawiranata and Paul Sutopo, who were later convicted of the embezzlement of Bank Indonesia liquidity assistance (BLBI) funds.

Another Rp 31.5 billion was allegedly given to several members of the House of Representatives' Commission IX (now Commission XI) overseeing financial affairs during the amendment of the law on the central bank.

The KPK has detained Rusli and Oey while Burhanuddin remains free.

M. Assegaf, one of Burhanuddin's lawyers, said Friday the KPK has yet to tell his client whether he will be detained.

"The KPK does not have enough reason to arrest my client because he has been cooperative and has not been tampering with or destroying evidence related to the case," he said.

Assegaf added that a legal brief had been submitted asking the graft corruption body not to detain Burhanuddin.

"I have assured them that my client will attend all the questioning sessions," he said.

Moch. Jasin, the KPK deputy chairman overseeing prevention, said the body as yet did not have sufficient evidence to put Burhanuddin behind bars.

"We must have strong evidence to detain someone," he said at a press conference.

Jasin said the KPK had not set a deadline for resolving the case as it wanted to work professionally to collect and analyze all evidence.

"I hope the public will be patient in waiting for the investigation results," he said. (ewd)

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