Burhanuddin Arrested
Friday, 11 April, 2008 | 18:13 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) Burhanuddin Abdullah was arrested by the Commission to Eradicate Corruption (KPK) yesterday afternoon, at a police detention center of Indonesian Police Headquarters. He was charged for misusing 100 billion rupiahs of BI funds. Burhanuddin said that he felt disappointed at this arrest.

“It shocks me,” said Burhanuddin. Regarding his arrest being related to political interest or not, he did not want to comment.

Burhanuddin was taken into custody after the House of Representatives (DPR) voted on Boediono as the new BI governor on Monday. “We will see whether it is related to political interest or not,” he said. Burhanuddin position as BI governor is supposed to end May 17th.

Burhanuddin arrived at the Indonesian Police Headquarters at 04.30pm in a KPK car. He was taken directly to the criminal investigation division.

KPK spokesperson, Johan Budi, said that the arrest is not related to the recent decision of the new BI governor. “It is purely related to judicial matters,” he said.

Burhanuddin is suspect in the alleged misappropriation of Rp.100 billion disbursed from the Indonesian Banking Development Foundation (YPPI). KPK also named BI legal affairs director, Oey Hoey Tiong, and former BI communication bureau chief (now head of the central bank in Surabaya), Rusli Simanjuntak, as suspects. Oey and Rusli have been detained since February.

According to Panji Presetyo, Burhanuddin's attorney, the investigative team asked Boediono about the board meeting on June 3rd and July 22nd 2003 that discussed the funding of Indonesian Banking Development Foundation of Rp 100 billion .

“We regret it and will propose a postponement for his arrest,” Panji said. He said his client does not need to be arrested because he has been cooperative during the investigation.

The BI governor’s board and 50 of BI's employees met Burhanuddin at the prison. The board was represented by Siti Chalimah Fadjrijah, Hartadi A. Sarwono, Budi Mulya, Budi Rochadi, and Ardhayadi. “We hope the judicial process can be fair so that it will not disturb the economy,” said Budi Mulya.

KPK also examined former BI governor Syahril Sabirin yesterday. He said to journalists that he was examined as a witness for this case.

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