Councillor fined for fake diploma

Councillor fined for fake diploma

TANGERANG: The Tangerang District Court on Friday fined
councillor Fonaha Mendrofa, 47, of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Rp 4 million (US$470) for submitting a
fake school diploma to meet the requirements to become a
legislative candidate.

Presiding judge Poltak Sitorus said that Mendrofa, a current
member of the Tangerang Legislative Council, was found guilty of
submitting the fake diploma to the Tangerang General Election
Commission on Jan. 27.

"If the convict cannot afford to pay the fine, he must serve
three months in jail," the judge remarked while reading his
verdict.

The verdict was equal to the prosecution's demand.

Prosecutor Eben Silalahi said the case was based on
information provided by Mendrofa's party colleagues, saying that
he was not a graduate of the school of economics from Krisna
Dwipayana University in East Jakarta as stated in the fake
diploma.

The university confirmed that Mendrofa had never even been
registered as a student, let alone graduate.

The defendant was charged under article 137 of Law No. 12/2003
on general elections. The article carries a maximum punishment of
18 months in prison and a Rp 6 million fine. -- JP