PPATK finds suspicious transactions in Century

PPATK finds suspicious transactions in Century

Hans David Tampobolon ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 02/10/2010 8:59 AM  |  Headlines

A report listing hundreds of suspicious transactions related to Bank Century has been handed over to police and the antigraft body, the Financial Transaction and Analysis Center (PPATK) announced Tuesday.

“We have found 180 suspicious transactions. We have reported 22 of them to the police, 20 to the Supreme Audit Agency [BPK] and 21 to the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission],” PPATK chairman Yunus Husein told a hearing with the House of Representatives’ inquiry committee investigating the Bank Century bailout.

Yunus also noted the agency had identified a potentially suspicious transaction involving a lawmaker.

“We are still looking into this suspicious transaction,” he said.

During the hearing, the United Development Party (PPP) faction said it suspected the Bank Century bailout fund was channeled to a company believed to be among the donors of one of last year’s presidential candidates.

“We have found indications that a company that donated money to one of the presidential candidates, with the initials AJP, received the fund,” PPP lawmaker and committee member Romahurmuzy told detik.com. The company donated Rp 600 million (US$66,666) and Rp 850 million, he added.

The PPP, a member of the government’s coalition, asked the PPATK to provide details of the company. 

The committee has found indications that Sinar Mas Securities, an affiliated company of the Sinar Mas Group, might have received a portion of the bailout fund.

Committee member Andi Rahmat of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction said that he had found the indications in the PPATK report.

“The amount is significant,” he said, but declined to reveal the exact figure.

Another PKS lawmaker, Mahfudz Siddiq, acknowledged there was a disbursement to a party under
the initials of “SM”. However, he refused to confirm if it was Sinar Mas.

“The committee is still compiling the data [on this information]. Once we find clear evidence of a criminal act we can officially reveal the name,” he said.

Andi also confirmed the data reported in an official document, which says a bank affiliated with the Sinar Mas Group, called Bank Sinar Mas, might have benefited from the government’s decision to salvage the ailing Century.

The Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) bailout was authorized by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and former Bank Indonesia governor Boediono, now the Vice President.

Mulyani and Boediono have repeatedly insisted the bailout was necessary to save the banking sector from a systematic threat amid the global economic crisis.

A document obtained by the Post from one of the inquiry committee members revealed that Bank Sinar Mas was the only bank whose capital adequacy ratio (CAR) would  fall under the minimum limit of 8 percent if Bank Century was not salvaged.

The document said Bank Sinar Mas’ CAR would plunge to 6.93 percent from 12.27 percent if Bank Century was not saved.

Sinar Mas Group director Gandhi Sulistyanto said the disbursement from Bank Century to Sinar Mas Securities “had nothing to do with the controversial bailout disbursement”.