Ex-Bapindo boss gets eight years for corruption

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)