Businessman Rudy Sutopo gets 15 years in state pen

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The South Jakarta District Court have found businessman Rudy Sutopo guilty of fraud in the high-profile Rp 1.7 trillion (US$185 million) Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) scandal and sentenced him to 15 years in a state penitentiary.

A panel of three judges, presided over by Judge M. Syarifuddin, also ordered Rudy to pay a Rp 1 billion fine.

Both Rudy and prosecutor Syaiful Tahir, who had sought a 20- year jail term for the defendant, said they would decide later whether or not to appeal the verdict.

Rudy is a commissioner with PT Mahesa Karya Mandiri, which allegedly received some US$5 million as a result of the scam.

The embezzlement began when officers from BNI Kebayoran Baru branch in South Jakarta approved export loans to eight subsidiaries of the Gramarindo and Petindo Groups, including PT Mahesa, with letters of credit issued by banks in Kenya, Switzerland and the Cook Islands as collateral.

The letters of credit turned out to be fake, causing the state bank to suffer losses worth Rp 1.7 trillion.

As many as 17 people from BNI, Gramarindo and Petindo, have been named suspects. But, prime suspect Dutch national Maria Pauline Lumowa managed to flee the country, while another person originally thought to be a key player, Adrian Waworuntu, is being tried in the same court.

Former Foreign Customer Relations head of BNI Kebayoran Baru Edi Santoso has been given a life sentence, former branch manager Koesdiyuwono was imprisoned for 15 years, while five directors of Gramarindo Group have been jailed for between eight and 15 years.

They are Ollah Abdullah Agam, Aprilla Widata and Adrian Pandelaki, who got 15 years in prison, while Richard Kountul got a 10-year term and Titik Pristiwati eight years.

Businessman John Hamenda, Rudi's colleague, has been sentenced to 20 years.