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The Supreme Audit Agency is set to release its forensic audit into the controversial Rp 6.7 trillion ($737 million) bailout of Bank Century today.

However even before the release, politicians on Thursday expressed skepticism as to whether it would have any effect on the already prolonged criminal investigation.

“December 23 is Friday, so print media will publish the story on Saturday. By then people’s attention will no longer be on politics and legal matters, but on their weekend and Christmas celebrations,” former Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Muhammad Misbakhun said on Thursday.

Misbakhun was one of the politicians who originally demanded an investigation into the 2008 bailout, which critics say was illegal, given the small threat the ailing bank posed to the nation’s economic well-being. Government officials maintain that the bailout was necessary.

The audit agency, known as the BPK, only agreed to investigate the bank’s condition prior to the bailout, Misbakhun said. The agency, he added, also refused to cross-check data provided by the bank, which has since been renamed Bank Mutiara.

Misbakhun also questioned the capacity and credibility of auditors in charge of the probe.

“There is extremely strong political pressure on the BPK and I am not sure the BPK can handle such pressure. I think they will play it safe,” he said.

Misbakhun was sentenced to two years for falsifying documents in order to obtain a line of credit worth $22.5 million from Bank Century. He was released this year after serving about half his sentence.

Pramono Anung, a House of Representatives deputy speaker from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said he was optimistic the BPK could get to the bottom of the controversy, but questioned whether law enforcers would charge top public officials responsible for the bailout.

“Just look at Paskah Suzetta. He was touched after he was no longer minister,” Pramono said.

Pramono was referring to the former minister for the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), Paskah was sentenced to 16 months in jail for his role in a 2004 bribery scandal, but only after he had left office.

Pramono said he had no idea what the BPK report would contain, but said that it should address the Rp 1 billion borrowed by former Bank Indonesia deputy governor Budi Mulya from former Bank Century co-owner Robert Tantular, who is serving a nine-year sentence for bank fraud.

“The KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission] must use the findings in its investigation. If the case is left unresolved then the political consequences will be dire,” he said.

Democratic Party politician Sutan Bhatoegana said that there was no reason to be pessimistic about today’s audit release.

“We should all just wait and see. If there are people at fault, then they should be arrested. If they are not guilty, then why worry?” he said.

Sutan, whose party supported the bailout, said the House should let law enforcers work independently in their investigation.

“[The House] should not talk about taking legal action unless we are sure that law enforcers are getting nowhere,” he said.

The BPK was to submit its findings to the House on Dec. 9, but that release was postponed.

BPK deputy chairman Hasan Bisri said that unlike its investigation into illicit credits at the now-defunct Bank Bali in 1999, the Bank Century bailout was far more complicated.

“For a start, Bank Bali involved just one account, [Bank Century] involves tens of thousands, even millions of accounts. That is why it has taken us so long,” he said.

“It is like finding a needle in a haystack. Furthermore, the key people we need to question are now on the run.”

Robert co-owned Bank Century together with his sister, Dewi Tantular, Saudi Arabian national Hesham al Warraq and British citizen Rafat Ali Rizvi. The three have been named as fugitives and their whereabouts are unknown.