** Forum Nasional Indonesia PPI India Mailing List ** ** Untuk bergabung dg Milis Nasional kunjungi: ** Situs Milis: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ ** ** Beasiswa dalam negeri dan luar negeri S1 S2 S3 dan post-doctoral scholarship, kunjungi http://informasi-beasiswa.blogspot.com ** TEMPO No. 09/VI/Nov 01 - 07, 2005 Cover Story Four-star Treatment Allegations of bribes in the BNI embezzlement case are resounding around National Police HQ. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE 11-story building is greatly feared by the police. Not because the statue of R.S. Sukanto, the first Republic of Indonesia Police Chief, stands splendidly in its grounds, but because of its function. That is where the Internal Affairs department of the National Police Headquarters is located. One of the buildings there is always used to investigate and arrest police with problems. If proven guilty, their career will be a thing of the past and prison awaits them. Today Sr. Comr. Tubagus Irman Santosa is its only occupant. "There are no other prisoners," said an investigator. He has occupied one of the three cells on the fifth floor of the Internal Affairs building since September 17. Obviously it cannot be as comfortable as his luxurious house in Jalan Darmawangsa, South Jakarta. It only has a mattress on the floor. He can only leave when he is interrogated. In the past, Irman usually investigated criminals in his office on Jalan Trunojoyo, South Jakarta. Today, he is a suspect. At times, the field-grade officer is interrogated in an interrogation room in front of the cell. At others, he is investigated in the office of Commissioner-General Jusuf Manggabarani at National Police Headquarters, such as last Saturday. Since his arrest, he has become reticent and religious. "I'm surrendering all to the above," said the man born on July 26, 1952, to the investigators. His manners are totally the opposite of those when he was still Special Banking and Economy, Research and Crime unit head at National Police HQ, two years ago. At that time, Irman was very quick at revealing the embezzlement in PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) Kebayoran Baru branch, South Jakarta, in the amount of Rp1.2 trillion. The face of the person in charge of investigating the corruption by the Gramarindo Group often appeared on television. He also diligently spoke with reporters and was friendly with them. One by one the leading figures behind the embezzlement were placed behind bars. Among them was Adrian Herling Waworuntu, who was sentenced to life imprisonment. This case should be one of the police's achievements under General Da'i Bachtiar's leadership. However, during the investigation, allegations of bribery emerged. It was uncovered when the group of suspects started to sing different tunes. First it was Rudi Sutopo, one of those accused in the BNI scandal, who began to sing like a canary. The businessman, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison, claimed that he could not stand watching the police who played favorites when investigating suspects. When the investigation was done at Police HQ, some of the suspects were placed in a stuffy cell, including him. While the others, including Adrian Waworuntu, slept on sofas in the Special Economy Unit II room which had air-conditioning, According to Rudi, Adrian and his friends were able to secure such comforts because they bribed all members of the Special Economy Unit II. At first, Rudi revealed that the amount was small. For example, Irman and his team were accused of receiving Rp500 million. Brig. Gen. Samuel Ismoko, who at that time was Director II of Special Economy, pocketed US$20,000 from Adrian. Finally the Commission on Police Code of Ethics brought them to trial. At least 17 police officers were declared guilty. All of them were removed from their posts at Special Economy Unit II. Irman was placed on non-active status on March 7. In the same month, Ismoko was forbidden from conducting research activities for one year. Things quieted down slightly until General Sutanto was installed as National Police Chief replacing Da'i Bachtiar two months ago. The officers suspected of receiving bribes cannot sleep well after Irman was declared a suspect in the middle of last September. He was once again investigated to be brought to public trial. The same goes for Ismoko, although he has not been arrested until today. According to an investigator at Internal Affairs, at first Irman was going to serve time. "I'm resigned to my fate," said Irman to the investigator. However, since entering the fasting month of Ramadan, his attitude underwent a change. The investigator said that Irman was determined to uncover all police who accepted bribes in the BNI case. Initially Irman confessed to his lawyer, Haposan Hutagalung. He openly admitted to receiving a bribe. "The money wasn't for himself to enjoy, but was passed on to his supervisor," said Haposan to the press on October 18. According to Haposan, his client promised to reveal the cash flow from Adrian in the amount of Rp500 million which he had received. "Irman said that it went all the way to the fourth level," said Haposan. Irman had not revealed it openly himself when suddenly there was a photocopy of a document that was the same as an investigation deposition. On it was written the names of three police officers interrogating Irman, namely Sr. Comr. Estuning Widayat, Sr. Comr. Didik Tatok Prijandono, and Sr. Comr. Puja Laksana. The investigation took place at 2:30pm, Monday, October 17. Haposan claimed that he accompanied Irman. "But not until the end," he told Sukma N. Loppies from Tempo. From the document it was revealed that, apparently not only the embezzlers had bribed the police, but also BNI officials. Irman also confessed to receiving money from Mohammad Arsjad, when he was Compliance Director of BNI. In the form of a Bank Mandiri travelers check, the funds were Rp25 million. According to him, all the investigators at the Special Economy Unit II also received similar packages, including Samuel Ismoko. "The travelers checks were placed in envelopes with names," he said. Irman's confession matched his lawyer's. Haposan said that his client did indeed receive money from Arsjad. "The money was said to be disbursed in connection with the Idul Fitri 2003 celebrations," said Haposan. But not only was the Rp25 million uncovered. Irman also mentioned that Comr. Gen. (ret) Erwin Mappaseng, former head of the Criminal Research Agency, accepted Rp2 billion from Arsjad. Half of it was handed over to Da'i. "That I know because Pak Arsjad came to me and said that he had an audience with Pak Erwin to hand over the money," said Irman. And then, "Pak Erwin said to hand over Rp1 billion to National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar." Until the end of last week, National Police Headquarters still allowed Irman's confession to hang in the air. "For us, it is only material for further development," said Jusuf Manggabarani. A similar explanation was given by police spokesperson, Insp. Gen. Aryanto Budihardjo. "Investigators can't immediately summon the people mentioned by Irman to have accepted bribes," he said. Da'i was obviously stung by the story. "I was the one who ordered the BNI case to be handled immediately," said Da'i to Tempo. To prove that he was not involved, Da'i was willing to be examined by the investigators. "If I'm needed, why not?" he said. "I was then the Chief of Police, and I was the one who ordered that he (Irman) be caught and detained." He admitted to having been contacted by head of the National Police Research and Crime Agency, Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara. "According to Pak Makbul, in the dossier, there was no such confession," said Da'i. The same went for Erwin Mappaseng. In a short message service sent to a Tempo reporter's cell phone, he denied receiving money from BNI's board of directors. "Ask around, see who was the most vocal in concluding the BNI case, if not me. Why would I abuse my authority.get real," said Erwin. "That is no longer my problem. Don't confirm to me, I'm in a meeting," said Erwin. Former BNI Compliance Director, Mohammad Arsjad, also brushed it aside. "Not one single cent left BNI," said Arsjad to Heri Susanto from Tempo. He stated that BNI did not allocate funds for bribery. "I'm the victim here. How can the person being sacrificed be accused of giving money," he said. A Tempo police source who is also involved in investigating the matter has another story. He said that BNI officials actually did not want the matter to be conclusively investigated by the police, let alone conveyed to the mass media. The thing is, not all of the money disbursed went to the Gramarindo Group. "Some, well, was played by BNI people," he said. So far, those caught by the law were only BNI Kebayoran Baru branch officials such as Koesadiyuwono, former Kebayoran Baru branch head, sentenced to 16 years in prison. Edy Santosa (former head of the international banking department) was sentenced to life imprisonment, and A. Nirwan Ali (former operational head) was sentenced to eight years. Meanwhile, no BNI officials at the central level were brought to trial. "Actually, how can such huge amounts of money be decided at the branch level," said the police officer investigating the BNI case. Another irregularity also happened in handling Gramarindo's assets. This was revealed in the arrest of Jeffry Baso (Gramarindo senior official) who was once married to Maria Pauline Lumowa, the main actor in the BNI fraud. He was apprehended in connection with a land transaction in Cilincing. The 40-hectare plot of land is one of the confiscated assets belonging to the Gramarindo group. Strangely enough, one of the BNI officials even asked Jeffry to sell some of it. It was sold at Rp4.5 billion; however, the amount that truly went to BNI was only Rp1 billion. Two days earlier, the police also arrested Ishak, known to be Adrian Waworuntu's business consultant. Ishak was suspected of having given some money to Jeffry to later be given to the police. "He is now being interrogated," said police spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Soenarko, to the press. A BNI official then disclosed his anxiety. He claimed that BNI had lost a lot of money because it had had to bribe many parties. "The proverb where someone reports his chicken missing only to find his goat also disappears, we're experiencing that," he told Tempo a while ago. Irman is trying to disclose all of the above. Now, however, he is under pressure. "There are some who are forcing Irman to withdraw his statement," said one officer at National Police HQ. Irman is also being terrorized. Consequently, "He is under a lot of stress, vomits, and has stomach pains," said Haposan. Nurlis E. Meuko, Thomas Hadiwinata, Eni Saeni, and Erwin Dariyanto ive] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. 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