Tansil gets `only' 17 years in jail<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Businessman Eddy Tansil, the man at the center
\nof the Rp 1.3 trillion (US$620 million) loan scandal at the
\nstate-owned Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo), was sentenced
\nto 17 years in prison by a Jakarta court yesterday.<\/p>\n
The court also ordered Tansil, the 40-year-old owner of the
\nGolden Key Group, to pay the government Rp 500 billion ($238
\nmillion) in restitution and fined him an additional Rp 30
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
\"We find Eddy Tansil guilty of having caused a great financial
\nloss to the state,\" said chief of the Central Jakarta District
\nCourt Soetrisno who presided over the trial. \"We hereby sentence
\nyou (Tansil) to 17 years imprisonment.\"<\/p>\n
The court's public gallery was silent for a while, but when
\nthe verdict sank in, pandemonium broke out as people expressed
\nsurprise and disappointment at the light term.<\/p>\n
The public prosecutors too were taken aback by the court's
\nverdict which was far short of the life imprisonment they had
\nbeen seeking. Most observers had also expected that the court
\nwould at the very least give 20 years.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors, anxious to retrieve as much money as possible
\nfor the government, had also asked the court to order Tansil to
\npay Rp 800 billion.<\/p>\n
\"It is likely that we will appeal,\" Lukman Bachmid, the chief
\nprosecutor told reporters after the hearing.<\/p>\n
Lukman tried to hide his disappointment. \"It is common in any
\ntrial that the verdict does not meet our expectations.\"<\/p>\n
The court yesterday ordered the government to return some of
\nthe assets it had confiscated from Tansil, but allowed it to keep
\nthe goods believed to have been purchased with money swindled
\nfrom Bapindo. They include various properties and also bank
\ndeposits.<\/p>\n
National security<\/p>\n
Judge Soetrisno rejected the prosecution's suggestion that
\nTansil's behavior had gone as far as to threaten national
\nsecurity. His action, however, caused a loss to the government
\nsufficient to warrant indictment under the 1971 anti-corruption
\nlaw.<\/p>\n
Tansil became the second person to be indicted in connection
\nwith the huge loan scam at Bapindo. The first was Maman Suparman,
\nformerly deputy manager of Bapindo's Jakarta branch, who handled
\nTansil's loan accounts with the bank. Maman was given a nine-year
\nprison term.<\/p>\n
Four former Bapindo directors who were in charge of the bank
\nbetween 1989 and 1993 when the scandal took place, have also been
\ncharged. They are Subekti Ismaun, Towil Heryoto, Sjahrizal and
\nBambang Kuntjoro.<\/p>\n
The court yesterday said that Tansil was guilty of embezzling
\n$448 million from the government-owned bank.<\/p>\n
Tansil had secured a total of $477 million in loans from
\nBapindo to finance the construction of a huge petrochemical
\nproject in Cilegon, West Java. He owed this to Sudomo, then a
\npowerful cabinet minister, who gave him a letter of reference to
\nsupport his loan applications.<\/p>\n
Tansil managed to cash in on nearly $448 million of the loans
\nby converting the terms of his letters of credit from usance to
\nred clause ones. He also managed to name his own company in Hong
\nKong as the beneficiary in place of the original foreign
\nsuppliers. He did all this with the help of Bapindo insiders.<\/p>\n
The conversion from usance to red clause is a rare practice
\nand carries high risk.<\/p>\n
\"You are found in contempt of the banking regulation,\" Judge
\nSoetrisno told the defendant. \"Your action has tarnished the
\nimage of Indonesia's banking system.\"<\/p>\n
Soetrisno also said Tansil had misused the reference letter he
\nobtained from Sudomo, currently the chairman of the Supreme
\nAdvisory Council.<\/p>\n
Tansil's chief defense counselor, Gani Djemat, told reporters
\nafter the hearing that his team will discuss the verdict with his
\nclient before deciding whether or not to appeal.<\/p>\n
Yesterday Gani was accompanied by Humphrey R. Djemat, his son,
\nSoetarno Soedja, FXL Soewadi and Sintok Singh. (02)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tansil-gets-only-17-years-in-jail-1447893297",
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