Ex-Bapindo boss gets eight years for corruption<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A former president of Bank Pembangunan Indonesia
\n(Bapindo) was sentenced to eight years imprisonment yesterday for
\nhis role in a loan scam that brought the state bank to the verge
\nof bankruptcy early this year.<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta District Court found Towil Heryoto, 55,
\nguilty on charges of corruption. In addition to the jail term,
\nthe court also ordered Towil to pay Rp 30 million ($13,500) in
\nfines or spend an additional six months in prison.<\/p>\n
He is the first to be convicted among four former Bapindo
\ndirectors who are being tried in connection with the Rp 1.3
\ntrillion ($620 million) scandal at the bank.<\/p>\n
The four sat on the board of directors when Bapindo loaned
\nnearly $500 million between 1989 and 1994 to businessman Eddy
\nTansil to finance his ambitious petrochemical project in Cilegon,
\nWest Java.<\/p>\n
The loans turned sour and Tansil was sentenced to 17 years
\nimprisonment for cashing in on the loans with the help of some
\ninsiders and for bypassing standard banking procedures.<\/p>\n
A junior Bapindo executive is serving a nine-year jail term
\nfor his role in helping Tansil in the scandal.<\/p>\n
Chief of the South Jakarta District Court Soedjatman, who
\npersonally presided over the trial, said Towil was \"collectively\"
\nguilty of allowing the state to suffer huge losses.<\/p>\n
The judge dismissed the government prosecutors' charge that
\nTowil was also individually responsible for allowing the debacle
\nto happen. The prosecutors had earlier pressed for a 14-year
\nsentence.<\/p>\n
He also ordered the government to return some of the assets
\nwhich were confiscated from Towil, which include several bank
\naccounts that were frozen when the scandal became public early
\nthis year, two cars, a house in Cinere, South Jakarta, and a
\n2,150-hectare plot in Pati, East Java.<\/p>\n
It now appears almost certain that the other three former
\ndirectors -- Sjahrizal, Bambang Kuntjoro and Subekti Ismaun --
\nwill be convicted on the same charges, given that the court was
\ntreating the case as a collective responsibility of the Bapindo
\nboard of directors. The four are being tried separately.<\/p>\n
Towil showed no emotion when the judge read the verdict,
\nappearing to have been prepared for a guilty verdict.<\/p>\n
A young girl in the public gallery broke into tears and was
\nimmediately whisked out of the court room. She was later
\nidentified as Towil's youngest daughter.<\/p>\n
Later Towil told the judge that he could not accept the
\nverdict. \"I'm filing for an appeal.\"<\/p>\n
Chief Prosecutor Taslim Hasyim said he would discuss the
\nverdict first with the rest of the prosecuting team before
\ndeciding on whether or not to accept the verdict.<\/p>\n
Soedjatman said Towil as a member of Bapindo board of
\ndirectors violated a number of standard procedures in handling
\nEddy Tansil accounts, including approval of the loans and later
\nin allowing the businessman to freely cash in on the loans.<\/p>\n
The loans were originally intended to pay foreign suppliers in
\nthe huge petrochemical plant but Tansil managed to obtain the
\nfunds and then use them for other purposes.<\/p>\n
Judge Soedjatman said the prosecution failed to prove that
\nTowil received any payoffs from Tansil. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ex-bapindo-boss-gets-eight-years-for-corruption-1447893297",
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