Bank BTN Customers Can't Calm Down, Mediation Doesn't End In Solutions

Bank BTN customers and bank officials during an argument at Bank BTN Harmoni/ Photo; Rizky Sulistio/ VOI

JAKARTA - The mediation process between Bank BTN customers (Bank Tabungan Negara) who claimed to have lost tens of billions of money, with the Bank, on Tuesday, April 30, was again deadlocked. Customers who claim to be victims of Bank BTN have not been able to breathe a sigh of relief because until now there has been no solution.

"There has been no decision. There is no decision yet," said BTN Bank attorney Gregorius Upi when confirmed, Monday, May 6.

Customers hope that there will be good intentions from Bank BTN to return the lost customer's money to billions of rupiah.

"We continue to communicate well with Management (BTN) so that an agreement is reached that does not harm clients," he said.

Previously, the tire burning action had shocked employees of Bank BTN (State Savings) at a demonstration held in front of the BTN Harmoni Tower, Central Jakarta on Tuesday, April 30.

The action was emotional over the alleged loss of their money which reached tens of billions in a BTN Bank account.

In fact, customers consider BTN to be irresponsible of the incident that is strongly suspected of being carried out by employees of Bank BTN. In fact, according to customer recognition, they suspect that there is a flow of funds entering the account of one of the BTN Bank leaders.

"There is some money belonging to a customer who suddenly disappears where the money is officially deposited at Bank BTN and then without the permission of the customer, the money can be transferred, it can be used by one of the BTN employees," said Gregorius Upi, the attorney for customers in front of journalists.

Even some of the meetings that have been held between customers and Bank BTN have never found an agreement.

Still explained by Gregorius, in the initial process, Bank BTN was considered not proactive in solving this problem. In fact, continued Gregorius, even customers actually ping pong here and there.

"This is a big loss, yes, tens of billions of 4 customers. So coincidentally, the 4 customers gave us power, then we fought for the rights of the 4 customers. Only what we regret is that Bank BTN has no responsibility for this," he said.

Just so you know, the case started in October-November 2022. Customers put a total of funds in BTN accounts with a total of IDR 7.5 billion.

Then, according to customer recognition, the balance in BTN's account suddenly decreased drastically in February 2023. Customers also felt aggrieved.

According to Gregorius Upi, his party has reported to the OJK, but only asked for information without significant follow-up. Then from the investigation of the victim and his legal team, it was found that the flow of funds from bank employees allegedly flowed to one of the leaders.

"This raises strong suspicions that the loss of customer funds is the result of a criminal act allegedly involving several leaders from the red plate bank," he said.

Gregorius also said that there were allegations of involvement of the BTN leadership, both at the branch office and directors level, in this case.

"We call on the KPK to intervene and investigate potential corruption and violations of the law in this case. The loss of large amounts of customer funds and the involvement of BTN internal personnel should not be allowed," he said.

In addition, Gregorius also asked the Attorney General's Office to follow up on his report and take the necessary legal steps to involve parties in the loss of customer funds

"We ask Bank Indonesia to carry out in-depth supervision and evaluation of the performance of BTN. This incident shows that there are weaknesses in the internal BTN system and it is necessary to make systemic improvements and in the first opportunity to dishonorably dismiss the Board of Directors of Bank BTN because they have neglected to maintain the trust given by Customers," he said.

In addition, Gregorius asked OJK to conduct an in-depth investigation and take firm action against Bank BTN.

"We hope that the relevant agencies will immediately take action to restore public trust in Bank BTN, including and not limited to immediately return the customer's funds in a short time," he said.