Arranger gets 11 years in Bank Mandiri scandal

Arranger gets 11 years in Bank Mandiri scandal

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta

The Central Jakarta District Court found on Monday the last
defendant in the Bank Mandiri loan scandal, Yosef Tjahjadjaja,
guilty of stealing Rp 6.4 billion (US$763,000) in state funds and
sentenced him to 11 years in prison.

Eight other defendants in the scandal have already been
convicted, including the former president of the bank's Prapatan
branch in Senen, Central Jakarta, Charto Sunardi, who was
sentenced to 15 years in prison earlier this year.

This is the second state bank scandal that has resulted in the
conviction of bankers and others implicated in the matter. The
first was the BRI scandal that caused Rp 273 billion in state
losses.

A district court is currently hearing the cases of two bankers
who are on trial for a Rp 1.7 trillion scandal at state bank BNI.

In the Central Jakarta District Court, presiding judge Suripto
said Yosef was guilty of acting as an "arranger" in the 2002
scandal, which involved a total of Rp 120 billion. Eleven people
have been tried in connection with the case.

Yosef was also fined Rp 200 million, and if he cannot pay the
fine he will be required to serve an additional four months in
prison. He was also ordered to repay the state some Rp 6.4
billion. Prosecutors had been seeking a 17-year prison term for
the defendant.

Unlike defendants in the BRI case who were taken immediately
to prison to begin serving their sentences after being found
guilty by the court, Yosef would remain free pending his appeal.

Yosef's lawyer Amir Aziz insisted his client was innocent.

"The verdict is not fair. My client was only an arranger, he
only followed orders from his boss," Amir said after the hearing.

Yosef refused to comment on the verdict as he left the
courtroom.

With Agus Budio Santoso, the director of PT Rifan Finansindo
Sekuritas (PT RFS), Yosef arranged loans from Bank Mandiri for
Alexander Parengkuan and people at PT Dwinogo Manunggaling Roso
(PT DMR).

Those involved said the loans were to be used to build a
cardiovascular hospital, but the money eventually went for
personal uses.

Yosef and Charto arranged to place up to Rp 200 billion into
an account belonging to PT DMR at Bank Mandiri's Prapatan branch.

The money belonged to PT Jamsostek, which denied giving Charto
permission to use its funds. It was found that the signatures of
Jamsostek directors on release forms were false.

In February 2002, Rp 200 billion was deposited into PT DMR's
account at Bank Mandiri's Prapatan branch. Some Rp 120 billion of
this was moved into 10 checking accounts, each containing Rp 12
billion.

The accounts were under the names of Alexander Parengkuan,
Ahmad Riyadi, Aryo Santigi Budiharto, Harianto Brasali, Koko
Sandoza, Yakub Arupalaka and Andre Nugraha Ahmad Noval. All were
employees at PT DMR and PT Surya Cipta Perkasa, a sister company
of PT DMR.

All seven were sentenced to prison in April for their
involvement in the scandal. Each received between 10 years and 15
years in prison.

Agus, the director of PT RFS, was tried over the scandal but
the court found him not guilty. Another person from PT DMR was
implicated in the scandal, but he died before his case could be
brought to trial.

Yosef personally received a commission of Rp 6.4 billion from
Alexander, while his company, PT RFS, received 7.5 percent of the
total loan.

However, Yosef's lawyer denied that his client was ever
employed at PT RFS.

"My client was not even part of PT Rifan. He was only the
company's partner," Amir said.

Asked why a partner would have arranged these loans for the
company, Amir said his client was ordered by his "boss", who he
refused to identify.