KPK mulls taking over BLBI cases

Abdul Khalik ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 05/12/2008 10:51 AM  |  National

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is looking into the possibility of taking over the Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) cases from the Attorney General's Office, in response to mounting public pressure.

KPK chairman Antasari Azhar said Saturday his office had to examine all legal ramifications before deciding whether to accept the cases, which have cost the state hundreds of trillions of rupiah.

"We'll look into it," he said, on the sidelines of a national convention held by the United Development Party (PPP).

His statement signals a shift in the KPK's position.

Antasari has previously said the commission was unable to take over the cases because the KPK law could not apply retroactively.

The BLBI cases all date from the financial crisis in 1998-1999, whereas the KPK law was passed in 2003.

But many legal experts have dismissed the retroactivity argument, claiming the KPK law states it has the authority to take over high-profile cases if the AGO and the police are unable to investigate them or have no intention of doing so.

The KPK's decision to take over the BLBI cases is a matter of political will, as there are no legal obstacles to the move, according to Denny Indrayana, a legal expert at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

Pressure for the KPK to take over the BLBI cases gained momentum when the graft body arrested state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan in March for allegedly accepting a US$660,000 bribe from Artalita Suryani, a businesswoman linked to tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.

Sjamsul is suspected of embezzling trillions of rupiah from the BLBI funds.

Urip led the investigation into Sjamsul's involvement in the BLBI scandal.

Two days before Urip's arrest, the AGO dropped the BLBI investigations into Sjamsul and another tycoon, Anthony Salim, citing a lack of evidence.

Many experts and activists said the AGO lost credibility in handling the BLBI cases after Urip's arrest.

The AGO was further damaged by last week's ruling by the South Jakarta District Court, which ordered the office to reopen the investigation into Sjamsul's involvement in the alleged misappropriation of the BLBI funds.

The judge said the AGO's decision to halt the investigation into the Rp 28.4 trillion (US$3.1 billion) case was a breach of the 1999 law on corruption eradication, under which returning state assets does not erase the criminal act.

Sjamsul, owner of Gajah Tunggal Group and the now-defunct Bank BDNI, was said to have repaid his Rp 28.4 trillion debt. But the AGO launched a graft investigation after the value of assets he handed over to the state was found to be only Rp 4.9 trillion.

The AGO also dropped its investigation into Salim Group, which owed the state Rp 52.7 trillion in BLBI funds.

The group, former owner of the country's largest private bank BCA, paid its BLBI debts by handing over 92.8 percent of its BCA shares plus other assets and companies to the government.

Their value dropped to about Rp 19.3 trillion when the government sold them.

"The court's decision has shown that we can no longer trust the AGO," said Emerson Yuntho of Indonesian Corruption Watch.

"The KPK has to take over these cases if AGO continues to delay reopening them."

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