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.
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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]
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