Sri Mulyanito appear as witness in bank bailout scandal

JAKARTA: Indonesia's anti-graft agency said yesterday it will question as a witness a World Bank managing director as part of an investigation into a bank bailout that forced her to quit as finance minister.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, once considered the country's top reformist, was among several officials who authorised the rescue of the mid-sized Bank Century, the sole bank to be bailed out during the onset of the 2008 financial crisis in Indonesia.

The Corruption Eradication Commission said investigators will fly to Washington DC to question her about the 6.7 trillion rupiah (RM2.14 billion) rescue.

Sri Mulyani will be questioned as a witness only and has never been declared a suspect in the case.

"We will question her as a witness related to the Bank Century bailout as she was the finance minister when the bailout decision was made in 2008," commission spokesman Johan Budi said.

She has already been questioned twice by the commission and denied any wrongdoing after it emerged that bailout funds had been siphoned off by well-connected depositors.

The case rocked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government just after the former general won a second presidency in 2009 on a graft-fighting platform. AFP