Arghea Desafti Hapsari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 03/20/2010 8:34 AM
Smooth operator: Journalists crowd around the former president director of dissolved Bank Century, Robert Tantular, at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) office in Jakarta. Tantular was summoned for questioning on Friday regarding the 2008 bailout of his bank, now renamed Bank Mutiara. JP/Nurhayati
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has questioned a former part owner of Bank Century on possible corruption in the bailout of the bank and subsequent channeling of funds.
Robert Tantular’s questioning Friday came amid mounting pressure on the antigraft commission following an earlier statement it made that it could not base its probe into the Rp 6.76 trillion (US$ 716 million) bailout on the House of Representatives’ recent inquiry findings.
Two of four KPK deputy chairmen, Bibit Samad Rianto and Haryono Umar, said recently the commission needed more time for an investigation.
Robert, currently serving a five-year prison sentence for defrauding bank customers, testified as a witness.
“I’m disappointed by the fact that the authorities have never revealed to whom the bailout funds went,” he said.
The KPK previously planned to question Robert on the management of the bailout fund after it was disbursed by the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS).
Bank Century, since renamed Bank Mutiara, was bailed out in November 2008, at the height of the global economic turmoil, after the government ruled its collapse could pose a systemic threat to the country’s banking sector.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center (PPATK) recently listed hundreds of suspicious transactions related to Bank Century, some of them linked to high-profile politicians.
The KPK has grilled several witnesses in the case, most of them central bank officials.
They include Bank Indonesia (BI) director of research and regulation Halim Alamsyah, BI director of supervision Budi Armanto and BI deputy director of supervision Heru Kristiana.
Also questioned was Ahmad Fuad, an official at the BI directorate of supervision who is also a member of the Century supervision taskforce.
Investigators have also questioned the director of claims and resolutions at the LPS, Noor Cahyo, and Markets and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency chairman Ahmad Fuad Rahmany.
