Another former BI director convicted of graft

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Another former Bank Indonesia (BI) director was sentenced on Thursday to three years in jail for abuse of power in disbursing Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds amounting to Rp 6.36 trillion from 1997 through 1999.

The Central Jakarta District Court found Heru Soepraptomo guilty on Thursday of disbursing support funds to 22 ineligible banks in 1997, completely disregarding a presidential instruction issued on Dec. 3, 1997, that permitted the disbursement of funds only to healthy banks.

"The defendant caused losses to the state and burdened the state budget at a time when the country was suffering from the economic crisis," Presiding Judge Rukmini said.

The same court sentenced former BI director Hendrobudiyanto to three years in jail on Tuesday for the same offense. Both Heru and Hendrobudiyanto remain free pending appeal.

A third former BI director, Paul Soetopo, is also currently on trial with the verdict expected to be handed down on Friday.

Former BI Governor Soedrajat Djiwandono has been named a suspect in the same case by the Attorney General's Office.

The state prosecutor handling the Heru prosecution, Baringin Sianturi, said Thursday he would file an appeal with the high court.

Heru insisted that he was innocent, saying that the funds had been disbursed in accordance with the prevailing laws, and that he was merely following the orders of his superiors. He did not name the superiors in question.

The prosecutor, however, said that he would appeal the verdict as the judges had denied his request that Heru be jailed immediately for six years and be ordered to repay the state's losses.

"The request to order the defendant to repay the state's losses is baseless as the crime he committed was not one of corruption but rather one of abuse of power. Moreover, the funds were not disbursed in cash," Presiding Judge Rukmini said.

The court ordered the prosecutors to return the assets belonging to Heru and his wife that had been seized as evidence.

According to the court, Heru was given a lenient sentence due to his cooperative conduct during the trial and his position as a lecturer in a state university in Bandung, West Java.

The courts have so far tried some 20 bank owners and directors for BLBI violations. Many of them have been acquitted or received lenient punishments despite the fact that the funds in question have never been returned to the cash-strapped state.

The State Audit Agency (BPK) said that about 95 percent of the Rp 144.5 trillion in BLBI funds extended to 48 ailing banks during the crisis was misused by the bankers.