BNI fraudster get up to 15 years
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.