Malinda says clients approved all transfers

Former Citibank manager Malinda Dee is denying that she embezzled her clients’ money, saying that all transactions made for her customers were done with their consent.

“There was no transfer that was made without the clients’ knowledge. All transfers that were forwarded to the tellers were done with their consent,” Malinda told judges at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

Malinda said that Citibank had several procedures that made it impossible for the bank make transfers without customer approval.

The first mechanism was a call-back system, where customers were telephoned and asked to confirm any transaction before it was processed, she said.

“Customers receive a callback to check if it is true or not that they wanted to transfer a certain amount of money. Customers must know about it,” Malinda said, adding that the funds transferred were primarily used for investments.

Customers also received monthly report about all transactions made under their accounts.

Malinda said that she typically met with her clients in person or contacted them by telephone to discuss investment opportunities.

“All decisions were made by the customers and they signed off themselves,” she said.

Malinda also said that half of all customer money used for investments had since been returned.
Unfortunately, she added, she could not prove it as her customers have refused to show their account books.

Prosecutor Tatang Sukarna said that Malinda’s testimony had contradicted previous statements.

“When you stood as witness in the hearing of other suspects in this case, you did not say that. You did not say that all transfers were made with the customers’ consent,” Tatang said to Malinda in court.

When testifying at the trials of her relatives Visca Lovitasara and Ismail bin Janim and her husband, Andhika Gumilang, Malinda said that some fund transfers were done without customers’ consent.

Andhika, Ismail and Visca were sentenced to prison and to pay fines of up to Rp 350 million (US$39,200) for money laundering and forgery.

Visca was found guilty of accepting Rp 8 billion from Malinda in 35 transfers made between 2007 to 2010.

The court sentenced Visca to serve her custodial sentence under house arrest, given her good attitude during the trial and her two toddlers.

The scandal began when 34 of Malinda’s premium clients alleged that an aggregate of Rp 44 billion had been transferred from their accounts without their consent.

The allegations prompted Bank Indonesia (BI) to levy strict sanctions on Citibank in May, banning Citibank from recruiting new premium customers for one year and barring it from issuing new credit cards for two years.

At Malinda’s next trial session on Feb. 15, prosecutors are expected to read their sentencing demand.