Bali ex-official faces prison for land fraud

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Prosecutor Made Mudita demanded on Tuesday that the Denpasar District Court sentence a former official of the Bali land agency (BPN) to one year in jail for alleged graft.

I Gede Pasek Arsadja ought also to be fined Rp 20 million (US$2,352) for illegally taking over 116,950 square meters of state-owned land as private property, Mudita told the court.

The alleged crime took place in 1992, and involved five other BPN senior officials, identified as I Gede Naya, I Ketut Djempina, Soewignyo, I Dewa Gede Raka Saputra and the late I Gusti Komang Debet Artana.

Naya was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment while Djempina was acquitted on all charges.

At that time, the defendant was BPN chief of its land measurement section, responsible for inspecting and verifying state-owned land scattered in the island's resort area of Pecatu, Jimbaran, some 30 kilometers east of Denpasar.

The prosecutor accused Arsadja and his colleagues of conspiring to change the legal status of a large plot of state land in the area into that of private property.

They later registered the land as property belonging to I Gusti Ketut Adiputra, then a member of the Bali legislative council, Mudita added.

As a result of his involvement with the land fraud case, Adiputra, who is currently a legislative candidate from the Golkar Party, was placed on the list of crooked politicians by the Bali Corruption Watch.

Arsadja and other defendants were indicted under several clauses of Law No. 31/1999 on the eradication of corruption, and the Criminal Code.

"The defendant has abused his authority, which has inflicted financial losses on the state of Rp 882.3 million," the prosecutor said.

Presiding judge Nengah Suriada adjourned the trial until April 20, at which time the defendant will present his defense plea.