Thursday, April 10, 2008

Central Bank Chief Of Indonesia Detained

by Rohan Parker

An investigation into corruption is currently underway in Indonesia, and central bank governor Burhanuddin Abdullah has now become the highest ranking official to be detained due to the probe.

After the 60 year old was taken into custody,police took him to the police headquarters in Jakarta, where his lawyer, Mohamad Assegaf, summarily accused the detainment of being politically motivated. Abdullah is not the first high ranking banking official to be detained, February saw Simanjuntak, head of the central bank’s Surabaya branch, along with Oey Hoey Tiong, the bank’s legal director. Allegedly the two had been involved in the illegal transfer of money to lawmakers.

This detainment also follows parliament approving the appointment of Boediono, the current Coordinating Minister for the Economy, to be the next central bank governor. Bank Indonesia is to be managed in the interim by Miranda Goeltom, 58, the Senior Deputy Governor who has been employed with the bank for the past nine years.

This move has been both accepted and approved by the investment community and has been the source for speculation as to if the battle against the current inflation is going to take a new path.

The previous central bank governor, Sjahril Sabirin, was also accused of misusing state funds, however he appealed the conviction successfully. Abdullah has claimed that he is not guiling and that he is stunned that he has been accused.

The statement released by Bank Indonesia has included that they regret the detention of their leader, they will however abide by the legal process.

The allegations being presented against Abdullah by the anti corruption agency, which is called Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK), include the former governor using state funds to bribe officials.

Abdullah’s lawyer made a statement requesting the detention of the central bank governor be delayed for some time as his client had cooperated with KPK investigations entirely.

Since Abdullah’s detainment, the rupiah has risen 0.1% to 9,193 against the dollar.

Sources from within the industry in Indonesia said that banking policy should not change, as there is already another governor to take up the helm and the board of governors are proven in the field.

The Indonesian government have focused on rooting out corruption since they were ranked 143rd on the corruption perception index by Transparency International.

Currently, the KPK can detain suspects for up to 20 days without charging them.

 

 

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