'King of Bajaj' Who Embezzled Rp1.3 Trillion Successfully Escaped from Cipinang Prison
The Attorney General’s Office has once again succeeded in recovering state assets worth Rp51.6 billion from the corruption case involving Eddy Tansil. The businessman is known as the perpetrator of a Rp1.3 trillion credit scandal that once rocked Indonesia and became a fugitive after escaping from Cipinang Prison in 1996.
The Eddy Tansil case is one of the largest corruption scandals of the New Order era. Before becoming entangled in legal troubles, Eddy was known as a successful entrepreneur who built his business from the ground up. In the 1970s, he started a business buying and selling becaks and assembling motorcycles. Over time, his ventures expanded into various sectors, from alcoholic beverages to petrochemicals.
His name soared after he established PT Golden Key Group. Through this company, Eddy developed various large-scale business projects requiring massive funding. To finance the business expansion, he applied for a loan from Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo). The request was approved, and the credit received reached Rp1.3 trillion, becoming one of the largest loans ever granted by a state-owned bank at that time.
However, not long after the credit was disbursed, suspicions arose. Law enforcement officials found indications that the funds were not used in accordance with the original purpose of the loan application. An investigation was conducted until the Attorney General’s Office finally detained Eddy Tansil on 17 February 1994.
During the trial, it was revealed that the credit funds obtained were not used properly. The judge declared Eddy proven to have misused state credit for personal gain. The loan funds were used to purchase houses, land, and vehicles, and were deposited in bank accounts, rather than for business development. On 15 August 1994, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Eddy Tansil to 17 years in prison and ordered him to pay Rp500 billion in restitution. The sentence was later increased to 20 years by the High Court and the Supreme Court.
Although convicted, Eddy did not serve his sentence fully. In May 1996, Eddy escaped from Cipinang Prison in East Jakarta. At the time, Eddy was scheduled to undergo a medical examination at Harapan Kita Hospital, an activity that had received permission from prison authorities. However, the opportunity was instead used to flee. The Minister of Justice at the time, Oetojo Oesman, revealed that Eddy had altered his appearance by curling his hair and growing a beard to disguise his identity before escaping.
This incident prompted the government to launch a massive manhunt. Interpol was involved and search assistance was requested from 179 countries. The government even hired private detectives to help with the tracking. Several reports suggested Eddy was in Singapore and China, but all pursuit efforts never succeeded in bringing him back to Indonesia. Even when the Attorney General’s Office traced his whereabouts in China in 2011, the result remained nil.
More than three decades after his escape, Eddy Tansil’s whereabouts remain a mystery. Nevertheless, the state continues its efforts to recover losses from the case. Most recently, the Attorney General’s Office succeeded in recovering assets worth Rp51.6 billion related to the corruption case that once shook Indonesia.