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KPK to Hone in on Bailout in Bank Century Investigation
Nivell Rayda | March 07, 2010

PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri used a news conference on Sunday in Yogyakarta to urge law-enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the Bank Century bailout. (Antara Photo/Regina Safri) PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri used a news conference on Sunday in Yogyakarta to urge law-enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the Bank Century bailout. (Antara Photo/Regina Safri)
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The Corruption Eradication Commission said on Sunday that its investigation into the Bank Century scandal would focus specifically on the controversial Rp 6.7 trillion ($724 million) government bailout.

Muhammad Jasin, deputy chairman of the commission, also known as the KPK, said the decision came after an intense internal meeting that began on Friday afternoon and ended after midnight.

“We discussed the progress of our investigation, the report from the BPK [Supreme Audit Agency] and the decision of the House of Representatives,” Jasin said. He said the KPK had already found indications of corruption but he refused to divulge names.

The agency had previously said that it was probing corruption linked to the failed lender, which was taken over by the government and renamed PT Bank Mutiara.

“The BPK found nine indications of corruption starting with the merger, banking crimes and supervision until the decision to bailout the bank. We will focus on the bailout,” Jasin said.

The KPK would not be using the House inquiry findings as evidence, he said. “We are law enforcers and we work differently from the House of Representatives. We begin with solid evidence and not assumptions.”

Last week, the House concluded the bailout was illegal after an intense lobbying and voting process and recommended law-enforcement agencies investigate possible banking crimes and money laundering linked to the rescue, which was approved by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati but pushed for by Vice President Boediono, who was central bank governor at the time.

Meanwhile, the KPK is under fire from the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI) after the activist group submitted a pretrial motion to the South Jakarta District Court ordering the KPK to expedite its investigation into Bank Century.

MAKI chairman Boyamin Saiman said the court had accepted the necessary documents and would begin its first hearing today. “The KPK has shown little progress since it first began investigating Bank Century. From this hearing, we hope to learn exactly what the KPK has done and why no progress has been made. According to the code of criminal procedures, two pieces of evidence are enough to charge someone with a criminal offense, so what’s the KPK waiting for?”

Indonesia Corruption Watch is also pushing for swift action. “The longer the investigation is prolonged, the more political bargaining is likely to occur,” ICW chairman Danang Widoyoko said.

He said he suspected that several cases had been exploited and politicized by the government and used as bargaining tools against political parties critical of the bailout.

ICW said the cases included allegations of tax evasion by businesses connected to Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie and allegations of a fictitious letter of credit acquired from Bank Century by a company linked to Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Mukhamad Misbakhun.

The government was also likely to exploit previously halted cases such as allegations of human rights abuses by Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra) chairman and former three-star general Prabowo Subianto and People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) chairman Wiranto, another former general, ICW said.

Prabowo was accused of being responsible for the disappearance of several student activists in 1998, while Wiranto is wanted by an international human rights tribunal over allegations of war crimes before and immediately after East Timor gained its independence in 1999. Last year, the House recommended the government conduct investigations into both matters.

“Unless the KPK and other law enforcers quickly resolve the Bank Century case and bring those responsible to justice, these other cases will not see the light of day,” Danang said.




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