BNI fraudster get up to 15 years<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta District Court jailed on Thursday five
\ndirectors of Gramarindo Group for between eight and 15 years in
\nthe Rp 1.7 trillion corruption case involving state-owned Bank
\nNegara Indonesia (BNI).<\/p>\n
The panel of judges found the directors guilty of absconding
\nwith Rp 728 billion (US$79.5 million) of the funds from the bank
\nin bogus letters of credit scheme.<\/p>\n
Ollah Abdullah Agam, Aprilla Widata and Adrian Pandelaki were
\neach sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Richard Kountul got a
\n10-year term and Titik Pristiwati was imprisoned for eight years.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors asked for between eight and 10 years in jail for
\nthe defendants, saying they were not the masterminds behind the
\nbank fraud.<\/p>\n
\"However, we gave them heavier sentences because they were
\ninvolved actively in the scam,\" presiding judge Syamsul Ali
\nannounced.<\/p>\n
The court ordered the convicts to remain locked up, while
\ntheir lawyer, Samosir, said his clients would appeal.<\/p>\n
It was the first sentence handed down to businesspeople
\nimplicated in the scam. Earlier, BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch head
\nKoesadiyuwono received a 15-year sentence, while Edi Santoso, the
\nbranch's customer service head, was sentenced to life.<\/p>\n
Other suspects from Gramarindo, including John Hamenda and
\nJeane Lumowa, are standing trial at the same court, while the
\npolice were yet to finish the investigations into other suspects,
\nJeffry and Judi Baso.<\/p>\n
All of the suspects were charged with taking part in the
\nmassive graft case in collusion with the country's second largest
\nbank in 2003, using letters of credit from phony correspondent
\nbanks in the Congo and Kenya to withdraw the funds from the BNI's
\nKebayoran Baru branch.<\/p>\n
The letters of credit turned out to be fake, causing the bank
\nto lose some Rp 1.7 trillion in a total.<\/p>\n
Police have named 16 suspects in the case but managed to
\nprosecute only 12 of them.<\/p>\n
Key suspect Maria Pauline Lumowa, the owner of Gramarindo
\nGroup, evaded arrest as she fled abroad.<\/p>\n
Police have completed the case file of another key suspect
\nAdrian Waworuntu, currently in Manado, North Sulawesi, but
\ndelayed submitting it to prosecutors on Thursday, citing health
\nreasons.<\/p>\n
Attorney General's Office spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said
\nthe police promised to hand over Adrian and his case file to
\nprosecutors on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"The police have said that Adrian will be handed over to us on
\nOct. 1. We will ask the police to finish the file if we don't
\nhave it by the promised date,\" Kemas warned.<\/p>",
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