KPK officials insist no graft indication over century bank bailout case

Corruption Eradication Corruption (KPK) deputy leaders insisted that up to this date they found no graft indications on the Bank Century bailout case.

They reasoned that the bailout had not inflicted state losses.

“We fully understand that there has been great suspicion of graft behind the bailout. However up to this date we haven’t been able to find the connection between the state losses and state officials,” Bibit Samad Rianto, KPK deputy leader, said on Thursday.

Therefore, he added, the KPK would be consistent in stating that it found no graft indication so far behind the government’s decision to bailout the now-defunct Century Bank with Rp 6.76 trillion.

Muhammad Jasin, another KPK deputy leader, said that the term “state losses” itself was a bit misleading since to this date there was no such thing as state losses that had been found by the KPK in its investigation.

“To determine whether an action should be considered as graft, beside the state losses, the KPK should also be able to find the self-enrichment motive first. In this case, we couldn’t find any of these motives,” he said.

The allegation that the bailout had inflicted a state loss, he added, was not solid since up to this date Mutiara Bank, the new form of the now-defunct Century Bank, was still owned by the government.

“There is still a possibility of gaining profit from the bank performance,” he said.

As for the self-enrichment motive, he added, the KPK had found difficulties in finding the facts that might show that high-ranking officials behind the bailout had corrupt motives.

The House of Representatives through its special working committee had announced earlier this year its suspicion that the Rp 6.76-trillion bailout might have inflicted state losses. The house then recommended that the KPK conduct the investigation on the case.

These lawmakers also strongly suggested that those behind the bailout, such as then finance minister Sri Mulyani and then central bank governor Boediono be questioned in relation to the case.