Man jailed for 20 years for BNI fraud<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Businessman John Hamenda, a defendant in the Rp 1.7 trillion
\n(US$186.81 million) Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) scandal, was
\nsentenced TO 20 years and fined Rp 1 billion on Thursday.<\/p>\n
However, the director of PT Petindo Perkasa, remains free
\npending appeal.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Ridwantoro told the South Jakarta District
\nCourt that John was proven guilty of using fake letters of credit
\nand of falsifying other export documents to get funds from the
\nstate bank.<\/p>\n
The verdict was the same as that demanded by prosecutor Cecep
\nSunarto, who charged John under Law No. 31\/1999 on corruption and
\nLaw No. 215\/2002 on money laundering.<\/p>\n
John said after the hearing on Thursday that he would appeal
\nthe verdict.<\/p>\n
\"I feel that there's injustice here in this court and I will
\nappeal. There was a lot of evidence that the court failed to
\nreveal and the judges disclosed only the evidence that the
\nprosecutor wanted,\" he said after the trial.<\/p>\n
John was brought to court after being declared a suspect in a
\nfraud case involving the disbursement of Rp 1.7 trillion from a
\nBNI branch into Petindo and Gramarindo Group.<\/p>\n
He is the eighth of 17 suspects that have been sentenced to
\njail. The others were Ollah Abdullah Agam, Aprilla Widata and
\nAdrian Pandelaki, who were sentenced to 15 years in prison,
\nRichard Kountul 10 years and Titik Pristiwati who got eight
\nyears. BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch head Koesadiyuwono received a
\n15-year sentence, while Edi Santoso, the branch's customer
\nservice head, was sentenced to life.<\/p>\n
Prime suspect Dutch citizen Maria Pauline Lumowa remains at
\nlarge, while key suspect Adrian Waworuntu is still awaiting
\ntrial.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) called
\non Thursday for an in absentia trial for Lumowa so the government
\ncould recoup the bulk of the money.<\/p>\n
KPK chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki said that by holding such a
\ntrial, the government could carry out an immediate move to seize
\nall of Lumowa's assets, including the flow of funds on her
\nbehalf.<\/p>\n
\"It seems the efforts to get her back here are difficult as
\nshe is not an Indonesian citizen, but we could ask for an in
\nabsentia trial that will provide a legal base to seize her
\nassets,\" Taufiqurrahman said after meeting President Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono.<\/p>\n
Lumowa, a Dutch citizen and a commissioner at Gramarindo, left
\nthe country before the investigation began last year and is
\nreportedly living in Singapore.<\/p>\n
The government is unable to bring her back into the country
\nbecause Indonesia does not have an extradition treaty with
\nSingapore.<\/p>\n
Taufiqurrahman said that the KPK had set up a team to trace
\nthe flow of funds lost from the case as well as the recipients.<\/p>\n
He said that the team consisted of six people, including those
\nfrom Bank Indonesia and the Financial Transaction and Report
\nAnalysis Center (PPATK).<\/p>\n
\"We are learning the distribution of the massive funds, some
\ninto domestic banks and some into accounts at overseas banks,\" he
\nnoted.<\/p>\n
However, he refused to give further details of some of the
\npreliminary findings because they needed to be completed before
\nbeing made public.<\/p>\n
PPATK chairman Yunus Husein previously said the BNI case was a
\nmajor case that, if solved, might help Indonesia get off the list
\nof non-cooperative countries of the international money-
\nlaundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force.<\/p>\n
The conviction of John followed a string of previous verdicts
\nhanded down to bankers and others that were implicated in cases
\nof misusing state funds.<\/p>\n
In July, two former branch managers of state bank, Bank Rakyat
\nIndonesia, and two businessmen were sentenced to jail after being
\ndeclared guilty in a $21 million scandal.<\/p>\n
Also in the same month, the Central Jakarta District Court
\nsentenced Yosef Tjahjadjaja to 11 years in prison in a Bank
\nMandiri loan scandal that involved Rp 120 billion of state funds.<\/p>\n
Yosef joined eight other defendants in the case who had also
\nbeen sentenced to jail earlier.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/man-jailed-for-20-years-for-bni-fraud-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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