Febriamy Hutapea – The House special committee investigating the PT Bank Century bailout said depositors who received bailout funds included some with names similar or related to the names of state officials and politicians.
Mahfudz Siddiq, the committee's deputy chairman, said it had received evidence on Wednesday from the Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) concerning recipients of some of the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710) used to rescue the bank.
"The names are either similar or related to the names of state officials or political party members," Mahfudz told the Jakarta Globe, adding that the evidence, requested last month, was sealed in a brown envelope and labeled "secret." The documents contained information about the 50 largest depositors in Bank Century.
"There are five depositors whose names are similar to political party figures. There are also two depositors who have a relationship with lawmakers," he said.
On Wednesday, the committee questioned three former Bank Indonesia deputy governors: Maman Sumantri, Maulana Ibrahim and Rusli Simanjuntak.
Their testimony revealed that the decision to merge three small banks – Bank Pikko, Bank Danpac and Bank CIC – to establish Bank Century in 2004 had not been based on a meeting of the central bank's board of governors.
Maman said the decision was made based on the board of governors' approval of the acquisition of the three banks by Chinkara Capital in November 2001.
In the 2001 meeting, the board of governors agreed to the acquisition on condition that Chinkara fulfilled all requirements. However, no meeting was conducted afterward to discuss whether the company had met the requirements.
The three deputies said they had not been fully aware of the credibility of Bahamas-based Chinkara. The company reportedly did not have complete administrative documents and had not submitted a financial report in three years.
The majority of shares in Chinkara were owned by British businessman Rafat Ali Rizvi, who later became a director at Bank Century, which has since been renamed Bank Mutiara. Rizvi fled the country after the Bank Century bailout and is still at large.
Golkar lawmaker Melchias Markus Mekeng criticized the deputies who gave approval to Chinkara without thorough due diligence of the company. "The deputies had neglected the fact that Chinkara should be questioned," Melchias said.
The deputies were frequently unable to answer lawmakers' queries, saying they could not recall events. They also claimed not to know about the detailed merger process and the person who should be responsible for making such decisions.
Robert Tantular, the owner of Bank Century, is expected to appear Monday before the lawmakers.
The committee has summoned Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to appear on two occasions next week, on Wednesday and Friday.
Sri Mulyani was summoned over her role as chair of the Committee for Financial Sector Stability (KSSK), which decided to rescue Bank Century.
Former Vice President Jusuf Kalla will be questioned on Wednesday evening. Vice President Boediono, who was questioned last month, will be summoned to appear again on Tuesday.