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VP grilled over Century
His defense: Vice President Boediono talks to journalists after being questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on his role in the Bank Century case on Saturday
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His defense: Vice President Boediono talks to journalists after being questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on his role in the Bank Century case on Saturday. (Antara/Geri Aditya) (KPK) on his role in the Bank Century case on Saturday. (Antara/Geri Aditya)
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span class="inline inline-none">His defense: Vice President Boediono talks to journalists after being questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on his role in the Bank Century case on Saturday. (Antara/Geri Aditya)
Vice President Boediono faced another round of questioning by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators on Saturday over the graft-ridden bailout of a small, ailing bank in 2008.
The Vice President has been accused of being culpable for the bailout, which many said was unnecessary and plagued by irregularities.
Boediono was Bank Indonesia (BI) governor and deputy head of the now-defunct Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) when the government decided to disburse Rp 6.76 trillion (US$578 million) to Bank Century (now Bank Mutiara) to avert a financial crisis.
In a press conference at his office on Saturday evening, the Vice President said he was questioned for
almost 10 hours.
The investigators, he said, had asked him about the KSSK's decision to disburse the short-term assistance (FPJP) to Bank Century on the fear that its failure could lead to a collapse of the country's banking system amid the height of the global financial crisis.
Boediono said he did nothing wrong by deciding that the government should save the ailing bank to prevent the country's banking sector from suffering a systemic collapse, in spite of numerous critics, including former vice president Jusuf Kalla, who said otherwise.
'I want to say that what we did during the [economic] crisis was noble action in our opinion. [It was] noble to handle the crisis in our country and if in this noble action there were [other] parties who misused [the action], then it actually hurts us all,' Boediono told a press conference right after the questioning session at the State Palace in Central Jakarta.
He explained he believed that the only way to prevent a systemic collapse in the country's banking sector was through disbursing the FPJP.
His statements, however, contradicted the opinions of other witnesses questioned by the KPK in the case.
Kalla said following his questioning by the KPK on Thursday that Bank Century had been robbed by its owners and that it was unnecessary to salvage it.
He said that as acting president at the time, he was left in the dark about the situation concerning the bank when then finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who headed the KSSK, and Boediono had a meeting with him one day before the bailout decision was made. 'The finance minister and the BI governor reported nothing to me about our economic problems. [They told me that] there was no problematic bank.'
He added that during the meeting with Mulyani and Boediono, they explained to him there was no looming economic crisis.
The former vice president also pointed out the fact the bailout cost had ballooned to Rp 6.76 trillion from
Rp 632 billion in a span of three days. 'The [initial estimated cost of saving the bank from] failure
was Rp 630 billion, but after three days, [the state] paid Rp 2.5 trillion [in the first tranche of the bailout],' he said.
Economist Ichsanuddin Noorsy, who was questioned by the KPK on Wednesday, alleged that BI had provided inaccurate data that was eventually used by the government as the basis of its decision to save the bank.
'The latest data is the daily [financial] balance that needed to be obtained by the decision maker,' Ichsanuddin said, adding the absence of updated data might have caused the bailout cost to balloon.
Boediono, however, said he was not responsible for the ballooning fund, which did so after the Insurance Deposit Agency (LPS) took over the FPJP disbursement process. 'So after the process was taken over by the LPS and the authority [to do such thing] was bestowed by the KSSK, the bank became owned by the LPS,' he said. 'So the data [on why the bailout cost multiplied] was there [at the LPS].'
The Vice President said he did not handle the case after the bank was owned by the LPS and thus had no idea why the cost grew to astronomical proportions.
The KPK has named two suspects in the case, including former BI deputy governor Budi Mulya on allegations that he accepted Rp 1 billion (US$85,969) from a Bank Century official before the bailout. He was detained earlier this month, fueling speculation that Boediono would also be charged soon on the grounds that decision making in the central bank was collegial.
KPK chairman Abraham Samad has said the investigation into the bailout case would not stop at Budi Mulya.
