Third former BI director convicted<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A third former Bank Indonesia (BI) director was sentenced on
\nFriday to two-and-a-half years in jail for abuse of power in the
\ndisbursement of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds
\namounting to Rp 2.21 trillion in 1997 to five ineligible banks.<\/p>\n
Defendant Paul Soetopo Tjokronegoro was convicted by the
\nCentral Jakarta District Court for the illegal disbursements to
\nthe banks, including the now-defunct Bank BHS.<\/p>\n
Six other former BI officials, namely former governor
\nSoedrajad Djiwandono, former directors Hendrobudiyanto and Heru
\nSoepraptomo, and former members of the board of directors
\nHaryono, Mukhlis Rasyid and Boediono, who is now the Minister of
\nFinance, have also been implicated in the same affair.<\/p>\n
Hendrobudiyanto and Heru Soepraptomo have already been
\nconvicted and were sentenced to three years in jail respectively.<\/p>\n
These two, however, together with Tjokronegoro, remain free
\npending appeal.<\/p>\n
Soedrajad has been named a suspect in the case by the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office.<\/p>\n
\"The policy taken by the defendant, along with the other BI
\nofficials, caused losses to the state and burdened the state
\nbudget at a time when the country was suffering from an economic
\ncrisis,\" Presiding Judge Panusunan Harahap told the court.<\/p>\n
He said Paul, who was the director in charge of supervision
\nand foreign relations, should have suggested to BI, which is
\nresponsible for handling state funds, that clearing facilities
\nfor the five ailing banks should be halted, instead of continuing
\nwith the disbursement of the funds.<\/p>\n
Paul had violated a presidential instruction issued on Dec. 3,
\n1997, which ordered BI to disburse the funds only to healthy
\nbanks during the financial crisis, the verdict said.<\/p>\n
However, the judges dismissed the prosecution's demand for
\nPaul to pay Rp 2.21 trillion in compensation, saying that the
\nBLBI funds were directly channeled to the ailing banks through
\nthe clearing process, instead of in cash.<\/p>\n
Both Paul and chief prosecutor Heru Chaerudin, who sought a
\nfive-year immediate jail term for Paul, were considering an
\nappeal against the verdict.<\/p>\n
Paul, 63, was given a lenient sentence due to his service to
\nthe state and his advanced age.<\/p>\n
In its audit report on the 2000 state budget, the State Audit
\nAgency (BPK) said that about 95 percent of the Rp 144.5 trillion
\nin BLBI funds extended to 48 ailing banks during the crisis had
\nbeen misused by the bankers.<\/p>\n
Some 20 bankers have been prosecuted in connection with the
\nscandal. Many of them have been acquitted or have received
\nlenient punishments despite the fact that the funds have never
\nbeen returned to the cash-strapped state.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/third-former-bi-director-convicted-1447893297",
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