"Currently I has no more share in the Ancora Group."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said he has quit as a shareholder of the Ancora Group, a company allegedly received illegal fund, since he worked as a government official in 2009.
"Currently I has no more share in the Ancora Group," Gita
Wirjawan told a team of lawmakers in charge of supervising the high profile corruption case of Bank Century.
Gita was summoned by the team to clarify his position in the company, which was suspected to be one of the recipients of fund from the scandal hit Bank Century, which was bailed out by the government in the wake of the 1998 global financial crisis.
The bailout by the government has triggered years of unsettled controversy with critics alleging the bailout fund had been distributed among the supporters of the ruling party.
Bank Century collapsed after being robbed by its own owners who took away all funds from the bank including those owned by depositors.
The government defended its bailout decision saying the fall of the bank could trigger systemic bank rush amid the global financial crisis.
Bambang Soesatyo, a member of the Bank Century Case Supervising Team, said PT Graha Nusa Utama (GNU), a subsidiary of PT Ancora Group, is believed to receive Rp162 billion from Robert Tantular, thye woner of Bank Century around 2003-2007.
Bambang said PT GNU then used part of the fund to buy 22 hectares of land from Yayasan Fatmawati at a price of Rp65 billion.
Under the control of the government after the bailout, Bank Century was renamed Bank Mutiara, which has reported good growth to become a healthy small bank.
(Uu.H-ASG/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
