Tantular the Brains, Bank Century the Mode

VIVAnews - Even though it is the products of PT Antaboga Deltasekuritas Indonesia that are being questioned, the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) and customers who invested in the products claim that the actual fraud occurred at Bank Century.  All transactions of PT Antaboga Deltasekuritas Indonesia investment products were done at Bank Century. None of the customers actually went to Antaboga.

As it turns out, Antaboga has permit as investment manager but that permit was never activated. Neither did it ever issue mutual funds products. “Antaboga does not have mutual fund products. Its investment manager permit was never activated. Neither was its permit as a broker,” said Fuad Rahmany, head of the Bapepam-LK, Jakarta, Dec. 10.

Furthermore, Robert Tantular, who has been arrested  for different charges and is currently detained, has been named by Bapepam-LK as the brains behind the scam. “The customers’ money was used by Robert Tantular. He is the brains behind it all,” said Fuad.

In fact, all of the money that Bank Century customers invested went directly into his pocket, merely passing through Antaboga. “The money went to Century owners,” Fuad said. It’s a good thing, Fuad went on to say, that Robert was already caught and behind bars. Robert was arrested in relation to the Bank Century scandal that led to its takeover by the government.

The technique that Robert used has been described as ‘advanced’. Fuad described it as such, saying that the modus have been discovered after an investigation by the Bapepam-LK’s investigation team. “He took the customers’ money using advanced techniques,” Fuad said.

Bapepam-LK will continue to look into who was actually responsible for the fraud. “If indeed a group in the company is guilty, it can be shut down. But if only certain parties are responsible, then it’s those parties that would be prosecuted,” said Fuad.

Bapepam-LK itself was unaware of the product being sold. It was not registered and there were in fact no mutual funds. “The mutual funds did not exist. It was fictive,” said Fuad.

Despite the fact that the ‘fictive’ products were issued by Antaboga and that Robert Tantular has already been arrested, Bank Century is taking the heat.

“The problem is, it was Century’s marketing who offered the product to Century customers and the transactions occurred there,” said Bapepam-LK’s Director of Verification and Investigation Bureau, Sarjito, Dec. 9.

Fuad Rahmany related similar sentiments about Century. According to Fuad the actual fraud occurred at Bank Century because it was there that the transactions were done. “There is something not right with what Bank Century was doing,” Fuad said, Dec. 10.

The customers were offered the products there, even though the products being sold were Antaboga’s products. “They said it’s Antaboga products but they were sold at Century,” said Fuad.

This is why, Fuad said, most of the victims are Bank Century’s customers. “Customers bought and put their money there (at Bank Century),” he said. The customers never even went to Antaboga’s office. At least not until they realized there was something wrong with their investment.

Antaboga’s customers did in fact disclose that they bought the products from Bank Century branches.  As such, they are asking Bank Century to take responsibility. “We don’t care. Bank Century has to take responsibility,” said Gunawan, a representative of the customers who fell victim, to VIVAnews, Jakarta, Wednesday, Dec. 10.

The victims said that they have always been dealing with Bank Century customer service with regard to their investment. Bank Century employees have convinced them that the discretionary fund investment products they offered were safe. “All we know is that the product was sold by Century, not Antaboga. That’s why we were convinced,” said Gunawan, Dec. 10

Meanwhile, a team has been formed by Bank Century to deal with customers who had bought Antaboga products through Century. The customers themselves have decided to form a team. About 50 of them had gone to Century’s central office yesterday, Dec. 10, to meet with Century’s representatives. During the meeting they agreed to form a working group.

According to Deddy Traina, Bank Century’s Corporate Secretary, the meeting includes five representatives from the customers’ side, from different regions. “Later, Antaboga investors will be able to relate their problem through the working team,” said Deddy.

The number of customers who have filed a complaint to Bank Century is about 150 people as of Wednesday, Dec. 10.  These customers became agitated after finding out that they could not cash their funds even after they were due last month. They were interested in investing their money in the first place because they were offered a high interest rate of 11.5 to 13 percent.

The total amount of customers’ money at issue amounts to Rp 1.5 trillion (approx. US$137.37 million).

But there is a possibility that this figure would increase. "That's the outstanding amount that are due. We'll see. There's apossibility the amount would increase," he said Sarjito, Dec. 9.

Meanwhile, Bapepam-LK had also said that it will continue its investigation on all parties that could possibly have been involved, including Century’s  marketing department. “The investigation schedule is already done. All who was involved would be investigated, until this matter is cleared,” said Sarjito.

However, this does not mean that Antaboga’s management is not involved. “I can’t say that. In principle, if they knew but they let it happen, they will still get it,” said Sarjito

VIVAnews writers Umi Kalsum, Nur Farida Ahniar, Heri Susanto, Syahid Latif, Arinto Tri Wibowo and Syahid Latif contributed to this article.

Halaman Selanjutnya

Despite the fact that the ‘fictive’ products were issued by Antaboga and that Robert Tantular has already been arrested, Bank Century is taking the heat.