Former banker tried for corruption<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta District Court began on Thursday the trial
\nof former president director of the now-defunct PT Bank Aspac,
\nSetiawan Harjono, who is charged with corruption for allegedly
\nmisusing money from Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI)
\nfunds.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Hermut Achmadi told the court that the defendant
\nmisappropriated the funds that his bank received in 1997 and
\n1998, to enrich himself and his company, causing the state to
\nsuffer Rp 583.4 billion (about US$56 million) in losses.<\/p>\n
\"The defendant, as the president director of PT Bank Aspac,
\nhad failed to manage the bank operations in accordance with
\nprudential banking principles and other guidelines provided by
\nthe central bank to management,\" Hermut stated as he read the 26-
\npage indictment.<\/p>\n
Hermut said the defendant, who is under house arrest,
\nviolated Article 1 paragraph 1a of Anticorruption Law No. 3\/1971,
\nwhich carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Setiawan is one of the few bankers who are on trial for
\nsimilar BLBI-related charges.<\/p>\n
The first banker tried for the charges, Hendrawan, however,
\nwas acquitted for corruption, but sentenced to one year in jail
\nand was ordered to pay a Rp 500 million fine or serve another
\nthree months imprisonment for the lesser charge of violating
\nbanking laws.<\/p>\n
Hermut said Setiawan, 56, along with his relative Hendrawan
\nHarjono, who served as deputy president director, had allegedly
\ntaken advantage of their positions as the bank's top executives,
\nto misuse the bailout funds allocated to them by siphoning it off
\nfor personal investments.<\/p>\n
According to the central bank's ruling, the money was intended
\nto help the banks contain the losses due to massive runs on the
\nbank amid the economic crisis which struck the country in 1997.<\/p>\n
The central bank had extended a total of Rp 144.5 trillion to
\nbanks under the BLBI program between 1997 and 1999.<\/p>\n
Audit reports by the Supreme Audit Agency revealed that some
\n95 percent of the Rp 144.5 trillion was misused by the banks.<\/p>\n
Instead of using the funds to reimburse depositors, many banks
\nused the money for other purposes including foreign exchange
\nspeculation, lending to affiliated business groups and for
\nrepaying subordinate loans.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/former-banker-tried-for-corruption-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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