The trial has begun of some of those suspected of defrauding the Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) of US$190 million by employing false documentary credits (DC World News. 20 November 2003).

Notably absent from the trial, which should feature several business people and bank employees, is the woman who investigators believe was at the centre of the elaborate scam.

Five emerge

Five suspects emerged last week in court to face allegations that they participated in the scandal.

The five accused were Olah Abdullah Agam, director of PT Gramarindo Mega Indonesia, Aprilia Widata of PT Pankintrans, Titik Pristiwati of PT Bhineka Utama Pasifik, Andrian Pandelaki Lumowa of PT Magnetik Utama Esa and Richard Kountul of PT Metranta.

African connections

The accused are suspected of deceiving state bank BNI by employing fake letters of credit (L/Cs) from correspondent banks in the Congo and Kenya to guarantee loans to companies that claimed to be exporting commodities to Africa.

The L/Cs were used withdraw money from BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch, but the documents turned out to be fake, thus causing BNI losses of around US$190 million.

Main suspect

More than a dozen people have been identified as suspects by investigators but they say the main suspect, Maria Lumowa, is still at large.

Lumowa, an Indonesian with Dutch citizenship, was a shareholder at one of the companies that allegedly received BNI's money. She is believed to be abroad, possibly in Hong Kong or Singapore.

Life terms

The five new defendants face charges of corruption that in Indonesian law carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Two former BNI employees, head of the Kebayoran Baru branch Kusadiyuwono and the same branch's head of foreign relations, Edy Santoso, have already appeared in court on the same charges.

Witnesses will be questioned in the next phase of the trial.

International fraud

In Indonesia the authorities have frozen and inspected dozens of bank accounts belonging to suspects and their companies, in an attempt to trace the missing cash.

Companies and institutions as far apart as Kenya, Switzerland and the Cook Islands may be embroiled in the scandal (DC World News, 22 December 2003).

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