Anwar `supported disbursing YPPI fund'

Irawaty Wardany ,  THE JAKARTA POST ,  JAKARTA   |  Wed, 03/04/2009 3:56 PM  |  National

A court hearing has revealed more about the alleged role of Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chief Anwar Nasution in a Bank Indonesia scandal, with a witness saying Anwar had insisted on the use of Rp 100 billion (US$8,26 million) of funds belonging to the central bank's Indonesian Banking Development Foundation (YPPI).

The funds were later used to finance legal assistance for five former senior BI officials implicated in the earlier BI liquidity support (BLBI) graft cases during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, as well as to bribe legislators at the House of Representatives to speed up the amendment of the BI law and smooth the political settlement of the BLBI cases, in which the House approved the BLBI debt being shouldered by the state.

Some legislators have been convicted in the YPPI scandal.

"Pak Anwar was the one who really supported the use of the YPPI money, saying if it was for the institution's interest, then *the use* should be approved," former Bank Indonesia director for legal division Oey Hoey Tiong, earlier convicted in the case, told the Corruption Court on Tuesday.

He added Anwar made the remarks at a July 22, 2003, meeting.

Oey was testifying at the trial of four former BI deputy governors: Maman Soemantri, Bun Bunan E.J. Hutapea, Aslim Tadjuddin and Aulia Pohan, the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's eldest son.

The four are standing trial their roles in the illegal disbursement of YPPI money in 2003.

Oey said the decision to use the YPPI funds to finance those two activities was agreed upon at two BI board of governors meetings on June 3 and July 22, 2003.

In the first meeting, all the board members, except Anwar who was absent, approved using the money.

After the meeting, Oey and his colleague, former BI Surabaya head Rusli Simanjuntak, disbursed some Rp 28.5 billion of the money.

In the July 22 meeting, Anwar was in attendance and signed the board of governors' endorsement to disburse the remaining Rp 71.5 billion of YPPI funds.

Oey and Rusli were sentenced to four years in jail each last October.

In earlier hearings, Anwar testified that he had never approved the disbursement of the fund.

He admitted attending the meeting and signing the notes of the meeting's proceedings, but claimed he was not aware of any approval for the disbursement, let alone knew the money would go to legislators.

Anwar said he thought the fund was intended to finance social community service activities conducted by the central bank.

Oey also claimed that during a meeting at Anwar's house, the latter told him to destroy all documents from the board of governors meetings that indicated his attendance.

"He told me to destroy the documents from the July 22, March and April meetings," Oey said.

Anwar denied the claims, saying he never told Oey to do such a thing.

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