Heru Andriyanto & Nivell Rayda – The Corruption Eradication Commission responded immediately to the House of Representatives' recommendation for an investigation into the controversial Bank Century bailout, holding a coordinating meeting involving investigators, prosecutors and senior commissioners on Friday.
Johan Budi, spokesman for the commission, also known as the KPK, said the meeting was held to determine the course the investigation would take. "Among the matters discussed were the recommendations from the House of Representatives," Johan said.
After intense lobbying, the House late on Wednesday voted to question the bailout and recommend that law enforcement agencies investigate possible corruption, banking crimes and general crimes allegedly linked to the bailout. The committee did not name any officials directly responsible for the irregularities.
Documents from the House's probe have been submitted to the KPK, which is using them in its own ongoing investigation.
The KPK has promised a wide-ranging investigation into the bailout, saying it would not limit its focus to Vice President Boediono, who was central bank governor at the time of the bailout, and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. The two have been blamed by several House factions as being responsible for what they call an illegal bailout.
A few hundred protesters from four different organizations rallied in front of the KPK office on Friday, urging the antigraft body to expedite the bailout investigation. Demonstrators from The Young Indonesian Caucus, the Communication Forum of People's Mandate, CenturyMania and Jayabaya University in Jakarta want the commission to summon Boediono and Sri Mulyani. The noisy crowd brought massive traffic congestion to busy Rasuna Said street.
The KPK is investigating indications of corruption based on a report from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK). The agency cited nine irregularities starting with the merger to form Bank Century, the monitoring of the bank, the decision to bail out the lender and the alleged misappropriation of bailout funds.
The Attorney General's Office, meanwhile, confirmed on Friday that the case against two former Bank Century owners, fugitives Hesham al Warraq and Rafat Ali Rizvi, had been handed to the Central Jakarta District Court, carrying charges of corruption and money laundering. It is expected they will be tried in absentia.
Hesham, Rafat and Robert Tantular held a collective stake of about 70 percent in Bank Century. According to prosecutors, Hesham, a Saudi, and Rafat, who holds British citizenship, stole Rp 3.1 trillion ($334.8 million), while Tantular, who is serving a five-year jail term for bank fraud, embezzled Rp 2.75 trillion.
Bank Century, which is now called Bank Mutiara, has so far returned only Rp 697.9 billion of the Rp 6.7 trillion in bailout funds.
Prosecutors need the guilty verdict to reclaim state assets taken by Hesham and Rafat and to try to seize their funds in Hong Kong and Swiss banks.