MA convicts former bank commissioner of graft

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Supreme Court offered a ray of hope for the country's legal battle against Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) abusers as it overturned a controversial verdict issued by a lower court which acquitted the former president commissioner of the now- defunct Bank Modern, Samadikun Hartono, of graft charges.

The court this month sentenced Samadikun to four years in jail and required him to pay Rp 169 billion (US$20.8 million) in compensation to the state.

Although the court did not order Samadikun to be jailed immediately, Supreme Court Justice Toton Soeprapto said on Friday that the verdict issued by the Supreme Court could be executed immediately despite Samadikun's move to challenge it.

According to the verdict, Samadikun was responsible for the misuse of Rp 11.9 billion in BLBI funds disbursed to his Bank Modern.

"The bank did not use the funds to meet the needs of worried customers as they were supposed to do," said Toton, who led the panel of judges handling Samadikun's case.

The government provided the BLBI funds from 1998 to 2000 to assist 48 commercial banks in dealing with massive bank runs during the monetary crisis. However, some Rp 137 trillion ($ 167 billion) of the funds were misused for other purposes.

The Supreme Court rejected the verdict by the Central Jakarta District Court that said Samadikun was not responsible for the violation because the funds were disbursed by the bank's board of directors.

"As a commissioner, the defendant was responsible for the bank's fund disbursement," Toton added.

The Central Jakarta District Court acquitted Samadikun in August last year despite prosecutors' recommendation to sentence him to one year in jail.

Prosecutors earlier indicted Samadikun for allegedly misusing Rp 1.7 trillion in BLBI funds, but during the hearing, which started in August 2001, the bank was said to have misused only Rp 169 billion, not Rp 1.7 trillion as originally alleged. The figure later was changed to just Rp 11.9 billion.

Bank Modern was also accused of disbursing the money in several installments to several companies within the Modern Group, which was owned by Samadikun.

The Attorney General's Office has sent more than a dozen cases to court with the hope that BLBI abusers would be punished and the state could retrieve the funds. However, the prosecution has so far failed to reach the goal.

Some of the defendants have been sentenced, but remain free pending appeal, while others were acquitted entirely. Worse, there has been no sign that the state funds that were embezzled would be returned.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan has promised to look into the BLBI cases following public outcry over the issue, which accuses the justice system of failure to carry out its duties honestly.