BPK Audit On Bank Century a Disappointment
Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Ezra Sihite | December 24, 2011
Supreme Audit Agency chairman Hadi Purnomo, right, and agency deputy Hasan Bisri announcing their Bank Century forensic audit results at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Friday. Antara Photo Related articles
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The House of Representatives lambasted the Supreme Audit Agency on Friday for its forensic investigation of the Bank Century case, saying the agency’s report was unsatisfactory because it lacked new findings.
The agency, known as the BPK, went to the House on Friday to present its forensic audit on the controversial Rp 6.7 trillion ($737 million) bailout of Bank Century.
The agency’s forensic audit contained 13 findings, including seven irregularities that the BPK had already reported
“These findings strengthen our previous ones,” BPK chairman Hadi Purnomo said.
But a member of the House’s Bank Century monitoring team, Bambang Soesatyo, disagreed. He said the BPK failed to present any significant new findings in its report and said the legislative was thus disappointed with the agency’s work.
House deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, of the Golkar Party, expressed similar sentiments. He said the House was surprised with the audit findings because lawmakers had expected the BPK to give them “diamonds.”
“The BPK chairman is far from our initial expectations, but as a House leader I choose to respect him,” Priyo said. “This is not final, anyway.”
Among the old findings were reports about Emir Moeis, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
A source from the BPK who asked to remain anonymous said the agency’s latest findings went deeper than those it previously presented to the House.
For example, the source said, the new report mentions a transaction in 2008 that amounted to $392,110 and involved Emir’s account in the now defunct bank.
“Emir Moeis said the money is an interest of the promissory notes called CIC-IC that were issued in the British Virgin Islands,” the source said. “According to the BPK, the money flow couldn’t be tracked and there has never been a receipt on that.”
Emir denied the source’s claims and said he had fallen victim to a fraudulent investment scheme at the bank. Similar investment frauds were to blame for the bank’s collapse in 2008.
“I am a victim. I have invested money [in Bank Century] and there is no word as to what happened to my money,” Emir said.
When asked about the promissory notes, he declined comment, saying he had already given the media an explanation.
The BPK also found irregular Bank Century accounts involving a married coupled identified as H.E.W. and S.K.S. The BPK source said the agency discovered cash deposits related to H.E.W. and S.K.S. three times in 2007.
When asked about the identity of H.E.W. and S.K.S., Hadi refused to comment.
House deputy speaker Pramono Anung from the PDI-P said the new audit would only add to political divisions in the House.
“This audit will not appease some board members who are critical about the issue. This may result in new problems,” he said.
Several parties, including those within President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s ruling coalition, had questioned the Bank Century bailout after rumors circulated that bailout funds were funneled to Yudhoyono’s re-election campaign in 2009.
The BPK had earlier found that some of Yudhoyono’s biggest benefactors held accounts in the bank, which was renamed Bank Mutiara after the government took over.
Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum said politicians have been inconsistent in their responses to the BPK.
“During the House inquiry, the BPK audit was praised. It even become a holy book for the inquiry,” Anas said.
The BPK discovered that Bank Century had given kickbacks worth Rp 1.32 billion to a number of officials in various state-owned companies and foundations in exchange for opening up their bank accounts there.
The audit agency has also questioned the Rp 1 billion loan that former Bank Century co-owner Robert Tantular gave to former Bank Indonesia deputy governor Budi Mulia. The loan, the BPK has said, could have potentially resulted in a conflict of interest, given Budi’s authority to monitor banking activities.
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