0 Anas Drops New Name in Bank Century Case

A government official has been implicated in the Bank Century bailout scandal by former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, a member of the House of Representatives’ committee investigating the case has revealed. Syarifuddin Sudding, a member of the special committee and a legislator with the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), said on Tuesday that Anas disclosed the official’s name to legislators when they visited his home on Monday. According to Syarifuddin, this was the first time the official had been mentioned with regard to the case, but refused to reveal the person’s name. 

“From what Anas told us, it led to one new person who is not a member of the [Bank Indonesia] board of governors. That person is an active official,” he said. When reporters asked Syarifuddin if the person was President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, he refused to answer and said it would be better for Anas to reveal the name himself. “If you say it’s SBY, that’s your conclusion. I didn’t mention that name,” Syarifuddin said. Meanwhile, Didi Irawadi Syamsuddin, also a member of the House committee investigating the Bank Century bailout, urged Anas to reveal the identities of five people whom he claimed had full knowledge of the case. 

Didi, who did not visit Anas’s house on Monday, said there was no point in Anas keeping the names under wraps and that he should submit them to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). “What’s the point of giving it to the House committee on Century? Just take them to the KPK. If he really has evidence and facts, go ahead and submit it to the KPK,” Didi said. His statement was criticized by Ahmad Yani, another committee member, who said Didi was responding to the Bank Century case emotionally. “It seems that he doesn’t understand the committee’s duties. It’s hard for us to respond to someone who doesn’t understand the committee’s job,” Ahmad said. 

Despite claiming to have obtained new information about the Bank Century case, the House committee has yet to decide whether to invite Anas to a hearing to provide more information. House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said that committee members had yet to discuss whether it was necessary to summon Anas. “Whether or not Anas will be invited, I can’t answer that yet. He could be summoned if considered necessary. Let’s just wait,” he said. Priyo also defended the legislators’ decision to visit Anas at his house, saying that it did not violate any regulation. He added that the committee was still checking the information provided by Anas. 

“So, it’s better to remain patient. We will publish it in due time. We’re still validating the new names of people that were said to have knowledge about the bailout case,” he said. The committee will also continue to monitor ongoing legal probes being carried out by the KPK, police and prosecutors, he added. Priyo said the House committee was scheduled to question Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan in the case in his capacity as the owner of Ancora, a company that allegedly received Bank Century bailout funds through the Fatmawati Foundation. “Gita was scheduled for this week. But he asked for his hearing to be rescheduled because he was accompanying the president on an overseas trip. 

I recommended the committee to approve it,” Priyo said. Fahri Hamzah, a committee member who visited Anas on Monday, said Anas had asked for the case to be resolved soon. “He asked for the Century case to be resolved before the lawmakers’ terms are up,” Fahri said, referring to the end of their period in office in mid-2014. Fahri noted that the KPK early last year had promised to resolve the case within 12 months, but had since struggled to develop its lines of inquiry. Bank Century collapsed in 2008, but the government controversially injected Rp 6.7 trillion ($717 million) to bail it out and bring its co-owner, Robert Tantular, to justice for siphoning off customers’ money. The Indonesian government has since taken over the bank.

source : the jakarta globe