Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Camelia Pasandaran – Controversial National Police Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji on Wednesday told a House of Representatives special committee that none of the money used to bail out PT Bank Century in late 2008 was embezzled by any political party.
Susno refuted allegations that some of the money had ended up in the coffers of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, allegations that were at least partially responsible for triggering the House investigation last month.
At times cracking jokes, an apparently relaxed and confident Susno told the committee that the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) in bailout money flowed into thousands of Bank Century accounts, but said he was convinced that none went to a political party.
"Nothing flowed into the account of a political party or [to] a certain party's individuals," he said, without elaborating, in response to a question.
Susno led the embezzlement investigation against Bank Century's owners as the then-National Police's chief of detectives. One of the bank's former owners, Robert Tantular, is serving a five-year prison term for issuing $220 million in fraudulent loans and misusing depositors' money. Susno himself was accused of helping business tycoon Boedi Sampoerna retrieve millions of dollars that had effectively been frozen in Bank Century in exchange for a Rp 10 billion payoff.
Susno has repeatedly denied the allegation, even shedding tears while speaking about it in front of lawmakers late last year. But on Wednesday he was all smiles, even joking with members of the special committee, who are now under fire for an investigation that seems to be making little progress.
When asked again by a lawmaker about the alleged Rp 10 billion, Susno shot back that he could have taken bigger offers if he had wanted to. "There is a bigger offer and it still applies," Susno replied, again without elaborating, momentarily lightening the usual grave tone of the hearings.
People's Democratic Defense (Bendera), a fringe nationalist group alleged to be linked to opposition political parties, has alleged that at least part of the bailout money was funneled into Yudhoyono's re-election campaign, to members of his inner circle and to various state agencies.
Yudhoyono and Democratic Party officials have vehemently denied the allegations.
Susno also accused Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, of exercising poor supervision over Bank Century, which was a chronically troubled lender. He said the central bank should have known there was the potential for banking crimes as the bank was audited every three months.
Susno also confirmed testimony by former Vice President Jusuf Kalla that he had ordered the National Police to arrest Tantular. Kalla testified last week that former central bank Governor Boediono, who is now vice president, had been reluctant to report the case to the police.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for Boediono said he had taken proper legal steps following Bank Century's collapse, including asking the Ministry of Finance to issue a travel ban on Tantular and seven other bank officials.
"On Nov. 20 [2008], for the first time, Bank Century was stated as a failed bank," spokesman Yopie Hidayat said. "The ban shows that Bank Indonesia took the necessary legal steps and did not let lawbreakers go free despite their mistakes."
Officials from the central bank and Finance Ministry, led by Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, approved the bailout during an emergency overnight meeting on Nov. 21, 2008.
During Susno's testimony, the police official also said that two major shareholders in Bank Century, Hesham al Warraq and Rafat Ali Rizvi, sent a letter to the National Police in June 2009 stating their willingness to reimburse the bailout funds. He said he forwarded the letter to Sri Mulyani, but she didn't respond.
Susno also confirmed reports that Rp 35 billion from the bailout money had been reimbursed to a mechanic in Makkasar, but only said "it should be investigated further."