GRAFT AGENCY URGED TO RE-INVESTIGATE CENTURY CASE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 3 (ANTARA) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is once again being urged  to re-investigate the Bank Century Case,  more than three years  after the then-ailing bank received a suspicious government bailout of Rp6.7 trillion in late 2008.          "The KPK must be responsive so that the legal process in this scandal will not lead to a protracted controversy," Bambang Susatyo, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Bank Century Case Monitoring Team, said Thursday.          He added that the KPK could no longer delay re-investigating the Bank Century case after the State Audit Agency's (BPK) findings that the bank's bailout had caused a financial loss to the state.          In a meeting with the BPK on Wednesday, the House's Bank Century Case Monitoring Team determined that the Bank Century bailout had resulted in a financial loss to the state.          The conclusion was a great stride forward in the efforts to resolve the Bank Century case because it provided the basis for the law enforcement agencies, the KPK in particular, to immediately reopen their investigation, he said.          The scandal began when Bank Century faced a financial problem during the financial crisis in 2008. At that time, the government decided to bail out the bank, citing its possible system-wide effect as itsreason.          In late 2008, Bank Century faced  liquidity and default problems. It later collapsed after its liquid assets of about Rp11.6 trillion were withdrawn through its security firm, Antaboga Delta Sekuritas, and deposited abroad by its owner, Robert Tantular.          The ailing bank was then taken over by the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS). The government later provided it with a bailout of Rp6.7 trillion through the issuance of  a Short-Term Funding Facility (FPJP) and  Temporary Capital Participation (PMS).          However, the State Audit Board (BPK), in a report, said it suspected there had been an effort to engineer additional bailout funds (PMS) for the bank.          Still later, a House Inquiry Committee confirmed that violations had been committed during the issuance of the FPJP and PMS amounting to the Rp6.7 trillion.          The House of Representatives (DPR), in a plenary meeting in April 2010, transferred the case to the government for its investigation while the House formed a team to monitor the progress of the investigation.          Yet, up to now no final solution had been reached on the bank scandal. With the latest findings by the BPK, monitoring team member Bambang Susatyo urged the KPK to  again investigate it.          "So, with the BPK having confirmed that there were indications of the state having suffered a financial loss from the Bank Century bailout, there is no more reason for the KPK to delay re-investigating the case," Bambang said.          Therefore, to facilitate its investigation the KPK should summon all parties involved in the process that led to the decision to rescue Bank Century with bailout funds, including then-Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Boediono (now Vice President) and then-Finance Minister Sri Mulyani who, at the time, was chairperson of the Financial System Stabilization Committee, Bambang said.          BPK Chairman Hadi Purnomo said this week that his audit agency, in its latest investigation, uncovered two suspicious facts. "The suspicious facts were found by the BPK during its follow-up investigative auditing,"  Hadi Purnomo told a meeting with the House Monitoring Team.          Hadi said the findings concerned the flow of funds from SS and SL to PT MNP and a foreign currency exchange transaction and foreign currency transfer from HEW and SKS to Bank Century.          However, on the flow of funds from SS and SL to PT MNP, the BPK has not yet found any comprehensive link with the Bank Century case.          Further, BPK Deputy Chairman  Hasan Basri said HEW and SKS exchanged foreign currencies with Bank Century and the funds from Bank Century were then transferred to several other banks, though he did not name the banks concerned.          According to Bambang Susatyo, the suspicious findings must be investigated. "The question is whether the bailout was really intended to safeguard the national economy at that time or to salvage SS's funds, worth Rp2 trillion at Bank Century,"  he said.          The problem was that if the bank was closed down, the Rp2 trillion funds belonging to SS would be lost, based on bank regulations. SS could only get a refund of Rp2 billion.          In the meantime, KPK Spokesman Johan Budi said the anti-graft agency remains serious when handling the Bank Century case.  "We are serious in investigating the bank's scandal. We have a large team with 20 members to tackle the case," Johan Budi said.          The KPK had earlier received dossiers about Bank Century from the House's monitoring team. The dossiers, among others, contained a letter from former finance minister Sri Mulyani,  the minutes of a conversation between Sri Mulyani and Boediono before the FPJP facility was handed over, and notes about the bank scandal from experts.          "We have officially received the dossiers and hopefully we are not going to shelve the Bank Century case," KPK Chief Abraham Samad said.***1*** (A014/a/INE/a014) 03-02-2012 21:40