[4] On 4 April 1998, BDNI, BUN and Tiara were among seven Indonesian banks placed under government supervision because of massive liquidity problems.

In an effort to obtain this support, Habibie's top advisor, Achmad Arnold Baramuli, organized the raising and distribution of funds.

EGP was owned by Djoko Tjandra and run by Setya Novanto, who was deputy treasurer of Golkar Party and part of Habibie's re-election team.

On 11 February 1999, a meeting was held at EGP director Djoko Tjandra's Hotel Mulia in Jakarta to discuss the Bank Bali credit issue.

Among those present were: Rudy Ramli, Djoko Tjandra, Bank Bali director Firman Soetjahja, Supreme Advisory Council (DPA) chairman Arnold Baramuli, State-Owned Enterprises minister Tanri Abeng, Bank Indonesia governor Syahril Sabirin, IBRA deputy chairman Pande Nasorahona Lubis, and EGP president director Setya Novanto.

[14] Erman sent a letter to IBRA chairman Glenn Yusuf, informing him of the conclusion and mentioning the cessie agreement between Bank Bali and EGP.

[15] On 29 March 1999, EGP issued two letters, authorizing Bank Bali to collect its loans and interest from BUN and BDNI on its behalf.

On 14 April 1999, Pande Lubis sent a memo to IBRA's Glenn Yusuf, recommending immediate payment of the Bank Bali claims.

But JP Morgan disagreed with the proposed sale, so Rudy accepted an offer from GE Capital, but the deal was rejected by Bank Indonesia and IBRA.

[12] On 12 May 1999, Rudy Ramli met with then-finance minister Bambang Subianto at the latter's house to ask for help to cancel the agreement with EGP.

On 26 May 1999, Rudy met with Golkar figure Marimutu Manimaren and Habibie's associate Hariman Siregar at Jakarta's Ascott Apartment to ask for their help to get the payment to EGP canceled.

When Yusuf was in New York on 1 June 1999, his two deputies, Pande Lubis and Farid Harijanto, authorized the payment in his absence, even though it was a Sunday night.

[17] Anthony warned Rudy that the deal with EGP would cause problems because Djoko Tjandra had been boasting that he had "bought off Patra Kuningan [President Habibie]" with Rp300 billion.

[14] Despite the discovery of the loss, a party still went ahead on the night of 22 July 1999 to celebrate Standard Chartered's planned purchase of a stake in the bank.

About 500 people attended the lavish event for executives and senior staff of Bank Bali and Standard Chartered at Jakarta's five-star Hotel Shangri-La.

He said Rudy Ramli had been for more than a year trying to secure his claim from IBRA and Bank Indonesia without success until he was forced to pay a huge "commission" to use a "facilitation" service.

[22][23] After news of Bank Bali's massive payment to EGP was reported by the media, Habibie's re-election team sought to contain the damage.

[24] Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to disclose the truth behind the scandal, Indonesia's parliament commissioned independent auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers to investigate the case.

When Rudy was questioned before a parliamentary commission of inquiry on 9 September 1999, he said he had been coerced to sign the retraction, and had signaled his reluctance by deliberately spelling his signature incorrectly.

But he admitted to sending the journal on 13 August 1999 to a lawyer in the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), who later forwarded it to Indonesia Corruption Watch.

However, local media noted that Bambang had been associated with Pande Lubis for 36 years and the pair had worked at state-owned Bank Bapindo, which collapsed in 1994 due to mismanagement.

Jakarta High Court upheld the decision and granted the Attorney General's Office the authority to return the funds to EGP.

Under the Habibie administration, police focused their investigation only on Rudy Ramli and three other directors of Bank Bali: Firman Soetjahja, Hendri Kurniawan and Rusli Suryadi.

Rudy, who is ethnic Chinese and had suffered a stroke in March 1999, complained he was being made a scapegoat, as police did not target the Golkar politicians and government officials implicated in the scandal.

State prosecutor Tarwo Hadi Sadjuri appealed the ruling, arguing Lubis abused his authority by illegally approving the Rp904.6 billion injection into Bank Bali.

Lubis's attorney, Asfiduddin, argued the transaction was legal because it was based on a presidential decree and circular issued by the finance minister.

On 10 June 2009, Tjandra flew on a chartered plane from Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma Airport to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Tjandra was given a two-year prison sentence, fined Rp15 million and the disputed sum of Rp546,166,116,369 at Bank Permata was ordered confiscated for the state.

He rejected calls to suspend Barramuli from the DPA and instead on 14 August 1999 - when the scandal was unfolding - awarded him with the nation's highest honor, the Anugerah Bintang.

[54] A report issued in March 2000 by the US State Department noted the Bank Bali scandal "entailed a large money laundering operation aimed at hiding numerous beneficiaries."