More than a year after their investigations into the massive letter of credit (L/C) fraud at Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) began, police say they are now directing their attention to the bank's board of directors.

Meanwhile a new police officer has been appointed to lead the investigations after his predecessor was dismissed after allegedly taking bribes from suspects in the case.

Headquarters suspect

The case involves frauds that cost the state-owned bank around US$170 million as a result of fictitious L/Cs issued by the Kebayoran Baru branch of BNI in 2003.

Inspector General Yusuf Manggabarani, who is now leading the investigation, said recently that top BNI officials might have been involved in producing the fake L/Cs. "There must be someone at BNI's headquarters who authorised the disbursement of money from the Kebayoran Baru branch," he told local media.

Power abuse

The decision to question the bank's directors was taken after Indonesia's police chief formed a special team to investigate alleged abuses of power by a previous team of police investigators led by Brigadier General Samuel Ismoko.

Ismoko stands accused of acting beyond his authority by giving suspects special treatment and taking bribes from them in the form of notebook computers and cellular phones.

Sentences

Several directors and former BNI employees have already been convicted for their roles in the fraud and have received heavy sentences. (DC World News, 4 October 2004 and 23 August 2004).

The alleged number one suspect in the BNI scandal, Maria Pauline Lumowa, absconded some months ago, initially fleeing to Singapore before reportedly travelling on to the Netherlands.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.