BNI fraudster get up to 15 years
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The South Jakarta District Court jailed on Thursday five directors of Gramarindo Group for between eight and 15 years in the Rp 1.7 trillion corruption case involving state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).
The panel of judges found the directors guilty of absconding with Rp 728 billion (US$79.5 million) of the funds from the bank in bogus letters of credit scheme.
Ollah Abdullah Agam, Aprilla Widata and Adrian Pandelaki were each sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Richard Kountul got a 10-year term and Titik Pristiwati was imprisoned for eight years.
Prosecutors asked for between eight and 10 years in jail for the defendants, saying they were not the masterminds behind the bank fraud.
"However, we gave them heavier sentences because they were involved actively in the scam," presiding judge Syamsul Ali announced.
The court ordered the convicts to remain locked up, while their lawyer, Samosir, said his clients would appeal.
It was the first sentence handed down to businesspeople implicated in the scam. Earlier, BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch head Koesadiyuwono received a 15-year sentence, while Edi Santoso, the branch's customer service head, was sentenced to life.
Other suspects from Gramarindo, including John Hamenda and Jeane Lumowa, are standing trial at the same court, while the police were yet to finish the investigations into other suspects, Jeffry and Judi Baso.
All of the suspects were charged with taking part in the massive graft case in collusion with the country's second largest bank in 2003, using letters of credit from phony correspondent banks in the Congo and Kenya to withdraw the funds from the BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch.
The letters of credit turned out to be fake, causing the bank to lose some Rp 1.7 trillion in a total.
Police have named 16 suspects in the case but managed to prosecute only 12 of them.
Key suspect Maria Pauline Lumowa, the owner of Gramarindo Group, evaded arrest as she fled abroad.
Police have completed the case file of another key suspect Adrian Waworuntu, currently in Manado, North Sulawesi, but delayed submitting it to prosecutors on Thursday, citing health reasons.
Attorney General's Office spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said the police promised to hand over Adrian and his case file to prosecutors on Friday.
"The police have said that Adrian will be handed over to us on Oct. 1. We will ask the police to finish the file if we don't have it by the promised date," Kemas warned.