Djoko freed from all charges
JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta District Court on Monday exonerated chief defendant Djoko S. Tjandra of all charges in the Rp 546 billion (US$64.2 million) Bank Bali scandal on a legal technicality and the prosecutor's failure to back his arguments up with testimony by witnesses.
"Prosecutor Antasari Azhar has failed to present more than one witness to prove that the defendant had influenced officials to disburse Rp 904 billion in funds, as earlier charged by the prosecutor," presiding judge Soedarto told the hearing at the district court.
The defendant, a director of the trading and investment firm PT Era Giat Prima (EGP), had taken over Bank Bali's interbank loans from the closed Bank Daging Nasional Indonesia (BDNI) and had allegedly influenced certain officials, including suspended Central Bank (BI) governor Sjahril Sabirin, to disburse Rp 904 billion in repayment of the funds.
The action resulted in Rp 904 billion in losses to the state.
Several witnesses at the earlier preliminary hearing had noted that PT EGP should never have taken over Bank Bali's interbank loans since they were guaranteed by the government under the bank restructuring program.
Earlier, Antasari had demanded an eighteen month-jail term for Djoko, accusing the defendant of having violated subsection 1a of Article 1 of the 1971 Anti-Corruption Law, which carries a life sentence.
Antasari noted on Monday that he would appeal the verdict.
In the absence of witnesses who could testify that the defendant had in any way influenced any official, judge Soedarto said that it only remained for the panel of judges to decide on the matter of the January 1999 cessie (waiver of legal rights) contract.
"That's the legal technicality. A dispute involving a written agreement is a civil case," Soedarto said.
The scandal originated from the failure of three private banks -- Bank BDNI, Bank Tiara and Bank Umum Nasional -- to repay a total of Rp 904 billion to Bank Bali, a debt which remained unpaid when the three were closed down by BI in late 1998 due to poor financial records.
Bank Bali then asked the government for the loans to be repaid as it had since been placed in the restructuring program.
The cessie contract stated that PT EGP was obliged to pay Rp 598 billion in negotiable instruments as collateral to Bank Bali by June 11 last year, which amount was never paid.
Instead, Bank Bali and PT EGP agreed that PT EGP would just pay the bank 60 percent of the value of the negotiable instruments -- that is Rp 358 billion in cash -- which PT EGP gladly handed over.
"This is legal. According to Articles 1338 and 1340 of the Civil Code, as long as both parties agree upon something, nobody has a right to stop them from doing so," Soedarto said after the hearing. (ylt)