The Bank Bali scandal occurred in Indonesia in 1999 when Golkar Party officials colluded with the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to coerce Bank Bali chief Rudy Ramli to pay an illegal commission of Rp546 billion (then equivalent to about US$80 million) to private company Era Giat Prima in order to collect Rp904.6 billion owed by two banks taken over by IBRA. Part of the funds were used to support then-president B.J. Habibie's re-election bid, but his accountability speech was rejected by the nation's top legislative body after the scandal broke. The scandal was widely referred to as Baligate (after Bank Bali and the Watergate scandal). Most of those involved, including Golkar officials and Habibie aides, were either acquitted or not even prosecuted. Background The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis resulted in the collapse of 64 Indonesian banks. Numerous problematic banks were taken over by the government, which restructured and merged some of them. Prior to the crisis, Bank Bali was Indonesia's fourth-largest privately owned bank and was considered well managed. Bank Bali had extended interbank loans to Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI), Bank Umum Nasional (BUN) and Bank Tiara Asia (Tiara) amounting to Rp1.477 trillion of principal and interest by 31 December 1998. On 4 April 1998, BDNI, BUN and Tiara were among seven Indonesian banks placed under government supervision because of massive liquidity problems. Their obligations and assets were transferred to IBRA, which had been formed in January 1998, representing the Indonesian government. A March 1998 joint decree of guidelines issued by IBRA and Bank Indonesia outlined the requirements for eligibility of claims for payment under the government's blanket guarantee for bank loans. By 11 January 1999, the balance of Bank Bali's interbank loans, after being offset by its liabilities to BDNI and Tiara, and adjustment for foreign exchange losses, amounted to Rp1.235 trillion, comprising Rp869.8 billion for BDNI, Rp327.3 billion for BUN and Rp38 billion for Tiara. Also in 1999, President B.J. Habibie was seeking re-election, which would require support from a majority of Golkar Party's 27 provincial chapter heads, and then support from members of the People's Consultative Assembly (DPR). In an effort to obtain this support, Habibie's top advisor, Achmad Arnold Baramuli, organized the raising and distribution of funds. Events Meetings, memos and requests Bank Bali president director Rudy Ramli, who had inherited the bank from his father in 1992, was unable to reclaim Bank Bali's