Ex-Mandiri chiefs to stand trial

JAKARTA: Three former directors of state-owned Bank Mandiri will go on trial next week at the South Jakarta District Court on corruption charges in a lending scam involving Rp 12 trillion (US$1.2 billion).

Former president director E.C.W. Neloe, former vice president I Wayan Pugeg and former corporate banking director M. Sholeh Tasripan will be charged for knowingly disbursing Rp 160 billion in loans without proper due diligence to PT Cipta Graha Nusantara (CGN), one of 22 companies allegedly involved in the case.

The offenses come under Law No. 31/1999 on anticorruption and carry a maximum life sentence.

A clerk at the court, Yunda Hasbi, said on Monday his office received the case files for the defendants on Sept. 27 and that the trials would start on Oct. 10.

Yunda said the court had appointed Judge Soedarto to chair a panel of three judges to hear the case. The other judges are I Ketut Mamika and Gatot Suharnoto. -- JP