Jakarta – Indonesia signalled its intention to crack down on bosses of failed banks yesterday, naming timber tycoon Mohamad "Bob" Hasan and two other businessmen as suspects in probes over the collapse of their financial institutions.

Hasan, former President Suharto's golf buddy and already on trial for graft, was named over the suspected misuse of US$1.3 billion in emergency credits extended to his now defunct bank, the Attorney-General's spokesman Yushar Yahya said.

The three join another leading tycoon and major debtor to the state, Syamsul Nursalim, who on Monday was declared a suspect in a similar probe over the collapse of Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI).

Many former owners of failed banks were close to Mr Suharto. The banks received nearly 200 trillion rupiah from the central bank in a largely failed attempt to prop up the sector at the height of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

"Bob Hasan is a suspect over the suspected misuse of liquidity credits worth 12 trillion rupiah," Mr Yahya said. He said Nursalim had been named a suspect over losses to the state of 7.2 trillion rupiah caused by the central bank liquidity credits being funnelled to BDNI, which was part of the Gajah Tunggal Group he heads.

The other two lower-profile businessmen were Samadikun Hartono of Bank Modern and Wiryatim Nusa of Bank Umum Servitia. Both banks have also been shut. Of the four, only Hasan is in detention.