BPK HANDS BANK CENTURY AUDIT REPORT TO HOUSE SPEAKER

Jakarta, Nov 23 (ANTARA) - The Supreme Audit Board (BPK) here on Monday handed the result of its investigative audit on the controversial troubled Bank Century to the speaker of the the House of Representatives (DPR).

BPK Chairman Hadi Purnomo presented the report to DPR Speaker Marzuki Alie at the House's building witnessed by House deputy speakers Priyo Budi Santoso, Pramono Anung and Marwoto Mitrohardjono.

A House member, Maruarar Sirait, when interviewed before the event took place, stated the document on the Bank Century audit did not contain information on the cash flow of the troubled bank.

"I asked several BPK members about the matter before the report was handed to the House leadership. However, further confirmation is needed to make sure whether the investigative audit touches the cash flow problem or not," said the house member from the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDIP).

The meeting between the BPK chief and the House leadership was also attended by the chairman of the House's Commission XI, Emir Moeis, and the commission's vice chairman, Aksanul Kosasi, Melchias Arkus Mekeng, Muhammad Sohibul Iman as well as a few other legislators.

Meanwhile, BPK Chief Hadi Pramono came to the meeting along with two other BPK members, Tengku Muhammad Nurlif and Hasan Bisri.

Last September, acting BPK spokesperson B. Dwita Pradana had said in a written statement that in their udit on Bank Century, the board's investigators would focus the merger process of Bank Century in December 2004, its license to operate as a foreign exchange bank and violation of prudential principles.

The reason for the granting of a Short-Term Financing Facility (FPJP) amounting to Rp689 billion by Bank Indonesia (BI) would also be investigated by BPK.

The BPK would also look into the judgment that if Bank Century was allowed to collapse, it would have systemic impact on the banking world. Also to be probed would be the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK)'s reason to decide to bail out the bank.

BPK auditors would also investigate the reason for raising the amount of bailout funds for Bank Century ten-fold from Rp632 billion to Rp6.7 trillion.