Ex-Bapindo boss gets eight years for corruption

JAKARTA (JP): A former president of Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo) was sentenced to eight years imprisonment yesterday for his role in a loan scam that brought the state bank to the verge of bankruptcy early this year.

The South Jakarta District Court found Towil Heryoto, 55, guilty on charges of corruption. In addition to the jail term, the court also ordered Towil to pay Rp 30 million ($13,500) in fines or spend an additional six months in prison.

He is the first to be convicted among four former Bapindo directors who are being tried in connection with the Rp 1.3 trillion ($620 million) scandal at the bank.

The four sat on the board of directors when Bapindo loaned nearly $500 million between 1989 and 1994 to businessman Eddy Tansil to finance his ambitious petrochemical project in Cilegon, West Java.

The loans turned sour and Tansil was sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for cashing in on the loans with the help of some insiders and for bypassing standard banking procedures.

A junior Bapindo executive is serving a nine-year jail term for his role in helping Tansil in the scandal.

Chief of the South Jakarta District Court Soedjatman, who personally presided over the trial, said Towil was "collectively" guilty of allowing the state to suffer huge losses.

The judge dismissed the government prosecutors' charge that Towil was also individually responsible for allowing the debacle to happen. The prosecutors had earlier pressed for a 14-year sentence.

He also ordered the government to return some of the assets which were confiscated from Towil, which include several bank accounts that were frozen when the scandal became public early this year, two cars, a house in Cinere, South Jakarta, and a 2,150-hectare plot in Pati, East Java.

It now appears almost certain that the other three former directors -- Sjahrizal, Bambang Kuntjoro and Subekti Ismaun -- will be convicted on the same charges, given that the court was treating the case as a collective responsibility of the Bapindo board of directors. The four are being tried separately.

Towil showed no emotion when the judge read the verdict, appearing to have been prepared for a guilty verdict.

A young girl in the public gallery broke into tears and was immediately whisked out of the court room. She was later identified as Towil's youngest daughter.

Later Towil told the judge that he could not accept the verdict. "I'm filing for an appeal."

Chief Prosecutor Taslim Hasyim said he would discuss the verdict first with the rest of the prosecuting team before deciding on whether or not to accept the verdict.

Soedjatman said Towil as a member of Bapindo board of directors violated a number of standard procedures in handling Eddy Tansil accounts, including approval of the loans and later in allowing the businessman to freely cash in on the loans.

The loans were originally intended to pay foreign suppliers in the huge petrochemical plant but Tansil managed to obtain the funds and then use them for other purposes.

Judge Soedjatman said the prosecution failed to prove that Towil received any payoffs from Tansil. (imn)