TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Police let KPK probe top detective in bank fiasco
National Police chief Gen
Change Size
N
ational Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri says the police will not block the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) from interrogating a top police officer in connection with the Bank Century saga.
The KPK earlier said it was investigating a senior police official — named “SD” — for his suspected involvement in alleged fraud leading to Bank Century's bailout, which has cost the state a total of
Rp 6.76 trillion (US$671 million).
A high-ranking police officer has reportedly received Rp 10 billion in the Bank Century case.
The police chief would not confirm whether “SD” was Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji, the National Police’s chief detective. Susno has denied the allegations against him.
“Please, if they do want [to investigate a police official]… there shouldn’t be any problem,” Bambang said Thursday, responding to reporters’ inquiries about the KPK’s intention to investigate SD.
He added the KPK could carry out its investigation without prior approval from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Bambang also said the National Police’s plan to summon KPK executives, in connection with an alleged bribe involving telecommunication firm PT Masaro Radiokom and KPK leaders, was no indication of a conflict between the two state institutions.
“There are really no problems between the two institutions,” Bambang said.
“The police’s actions are based on the report former KPK chief Antasari Azhar gave us.”
Suspended KPK chief Antasari Azhar, who is under police detention for allegedly masterminding a murder, reported KPK leaders to the police in connection with the Masaro case.
The report was based on a recorded conversation between Antasari and Masaro director Anggoro Wi-djojo in Singapore last November.
Anggoro admitted he gave Rp 5.1 billion to a number of KPK leaders to halt the investigation of graft allegations involving PT Masaro and the Forestry Ministry, allegedly causing the state to lose Rp 13 billion.
Anggoro then complained to Antasari as he realized the KPK was still pursuing its investigation despite him paying off the KPK leaders through Ary and Eddy Sumarsono, who had introduced themselves to Anggoro as KPK special envoys.
The National Police will summon the four KPK leaders on Friday after they failed to fulfill the police’s first summon Tuesday.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) believes the KPK has collected strong evidence with regard to Bank Century's bailout.
ICW researcher Febri Hendri told reporters that the corruption watchdog had asked the KPK to prioritize the Century case over other cases, and focus on questioning the top police official allegedly involved in the case.
“The case has caused the state a great loss and jolted the national economy,” Febri said.
Other watchdogs, such as Indonesia Participation and the National Students’ League for Democracy, also urged the KPK to settle graft cases involving banking mechanisms.
Staging a rally on Thursday before the KPK’s office, the activist groups urged the commission to take over the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) case, whose investigation was halted by the Attorney General’s Office.
Indonesia Participation director Yulia Evina Bhara said during her speech in the rally that the BLBI case had caused a significant financial loss to the state coffers of up to Rp 700 trillion.
She added that investigations on 14 banks receiving the BLBI funds during the Asian monetary crisis in the late 1990s had all been halted, although the banks had not yet paid back their debts to the state.
