•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

The Jakarta Police have spoken with a top official with the financial services watchdog about a case in which Rp 439 billion ($49 million) was allegedly embezzled by staff at a state-owned insurer.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Aji Indra, head of the city’s police’s anticorruption investigations unit, said Djoko Hendrato, head of investment development at the Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Board (Bapepam LK), was questioned on Thursday as an expert witness in relation to the scam at insurer Asuransi Kredit Indonesia (Askrindo).

“We questioned Djoko in order to be able to complete our dossiers on the two suspects we’ve named so far,” he said.

Zulfan Lubis, the former Askrindo director, and Noviar, the insurer’s investment unit chief, have been named suspects for fraudulently moving Rp 439 billion of the company’s money to 10 investment companies between 2004 and 2009, under the pretext of diversifying Askrindo’s portfolio by investing in corporate and state bonds.

There was zero return from the unauthorized investments and investigators found that just Rp 5 billion was left in the companies’ accounts.

Aji said the dossiers on Zulfan and Noviar would be submitted to prosecutors soon. They face multiple charges of money laundering and corruption.

The police are considering gathering testimony from more experts to shore up their case against the suspects, Aji said, and might speak to money-laundering analysts and officials from the State Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP).

Police have named the two Askrindo officials as suspects in the case, but Aji said there was a possibility that more suspect could be named soon.

Police have already requested travel bans for five investment managers from the investment firms that allegedly helped launder the money, as well as three other people said to have received some of the embezzled money.

Comr. Gen. Sutarman, the National Police’s chief of detectives, said his office was helping the Jakarta Police in the investigation, including by assigning 27 of its investigators to the case.

He promised, however, that the National Police would not intervene in or take over the Jakarta Police’s investigation.