THE BPK first received a request from the Special Committee to look into the flow of bailout funds in early January. In a one-page letter the Special Committee asked that the flow of funds out of Bank Century—particularly withdrawals made after the injection of the bailout funds—be traced to the final recipients. “The focus was on how the bailout funds were utilized, whether it was in accordance with regulations or not. Then where the funds flowed to exactly,” said the Special Committee Chairman from the Golkar Party faction, Idrus Marham, back in January.

Data on the flow of these funds had previously been looked into by the Financial Transactions Reporting & Analysis Center (PPATK). The Special Committee however needed comparative data. “We were concerned that the data provided to us by the PPATK had already been touched up,” said Hendrawan Supratikno, a PDI-P faction politician, late last week.

The BPK set things in motion. “My team has already been deployed on the ground,” said Hasan Bisri, without elaborating on how many auditors he has employed to track down the Rp6.7 trillion in funds poured into Bank Century. But Hasan emphasized that the investigation will take time.

“The funds put into Century at the time were not just from the LPS,” he said. Hasan proposed an analogy of a giant sack flooded with rice from several sources. “Once inside, it gets mixed into one,” he said. Sorting out which of the money taken out originated from the LPS, interbank loans, BI financing facilities or deposits by third parties, is no easy job.

The question of bank confidentiality will be the next problem they face. Fortunately, acting BI Governor Darmin Nasution has provided a covering letter that will allow the BPK to overcome this obstacle. Without Darmin’s letter, “Even if you held a pistol to the head of a bank executive, they still wouldn’t provide the data,” said Hasan. According to the Banking Law, data on customers’ accounts cannot be opened arbitrarily. “Furnished with the BI letter, we can get into any bank’s data.”

This is only the first round however, and the next part of the course is still tortuous. After all the data is laid out, a BPK auditor must then determine which bank account to examine first. Bank Century has more than 65,000 customers, and some customers have more than one account. The BPK must then divide the customers into two categories: high risk and low risk. Customers with large deposits will be prioritized for scrutiny under a magnifying glass.

It is at this point that the BPK’s investigations could begin to stall. Let’s say that the BPK follows the flow of funds from one account. Money from a Bank Century account deposited with another bank will become mixed in with other money in the destination account. “Not to mention if the account holder is a businessperson who receives deposits from all over the place,” said Hasan. Sorting through the flow of Bank Century money in just one account can take several days.

This complicated process has an added risk because it could also anger account holders. The thing is, in legal terms money in a customer’s account is their legitimate property even if it originated from bailout funds provided by the LPS. Because of this therefore, even if the BPK suspects there are LPS bailout funds that have been disbursed to an ineligible party, proving this is not as simple as just turning over a new page. “If the customer transferred funds from Century to another bank then withdrew them using a sack, we wouldn’t be able to follow it,” said Hasan. It is at this point that the police or the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is obliged to take over the case.

The Bank Century audit is quite different from following the trail of illicit funds from Bank Bali in 1999. Then the flow of Rp546 billion in funds from Bank Bali to PT Era Giat Prima owner and fugitive from justice, Djoko S. Tjandra, could be traced because the people holding the accounts were in circles close to former President B.J. Habibie. Hasan Bisri was one of the people involved in the auditing process at the time. “Then the audit only concerned one bank account,” he said.

WHILE the BPK is doing its utmost to complete the audit, over the last week Special Committee members have been busy trying to determine whether or not they can later gain access to and provide details of the documents used in the BPK audit. The thing is that the audit data will reveal confidential information and the Banking Law prohibits anyone from divulging this data, except in the case of an investigation into a general or tax crime.

And it’s not just the audit results. The Special Committee also has its sights set on investigation working papers held by the BPK. The working papers are all of the audit materials that form the basis of the investigation into the Century case—including transcripts and audio-visual recordings of meetings at BI and the Finance Department, plus official memorandums.

The Special Committee has in fact already asked for the complete documents from the original owners: BI and the Finance Department. However they also need comparative data. “Who would know if there is an incomplete transcript or edited recording,” said Special Committee Deputy Chairman Mahfudz Siddiq last week. In addition to this, some of the documents provided by the government were stamped “cannot be used as evidence.” It is this that has left the politician from the Justice & Prosperity Party faction asking questions. “Why weren’t we given authentic documents? We want to have a comparison,” he said.

Unfortunately, early on the BPK refused this request. “The working papers are for the auditor’s eyes only, which we cannot hand over except to the party being audited,” said Hasan Bisri. This regulation is part of the auditor’s code of ethics.

Rather than getting in a twist over the problem, on Monday last week, the Chairman of the Special Committee met with Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin Tumpa. The court offered the Special Committee a solution: they could seek a court ruling. “Furnished with a written court ruling, we can copy all of the documents that we need from the BPK,” said Gayus Lumbuun. This week, the Central Jakarta District Court will visit the BPK with the ruling. “We are currently processing the letter,” said Central Jakarta District Court head Syahrial Sidik.

BUT what if the BPK audit is not completed this week? Some politicians on the Special Committee still hold hopes in the KPK. Last week five KPK leaders held a more than four-hour meeting with the Special Committee. “If the KPK also can’t do anything, well that’s it, goodbye my love,” said Hendrawan Supratikno, a Special Committee member from the PDI-P faction.

The BPK itself has pledged to do its utmost to finish the audit in time. “If Indonesia were a big company, its shareholders would be the DPR. The BPK is its external auditor,” said Hasan Bisri. “Surely, the auditor must fulfill any request from the shareholders.”