Net89 Case: Former Director of PT CAD Sentenced to Four Years and Eight Months
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The West Jakarta District Court has sentenced Budi Sukandi (BS), former President Director of PT Cipta Aset Digital (CAD), to four years and eight months in prison in the Net89 trading robot fraud case.
“Four years and eight months,” said Presiding Judge Aslan Ainin when reading out the verdict at the West Jakarta District Court on Monday.
The sentence, handed down over charges of signing asset transfer transactions, was lighter than the prosecution’s demand of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rp1 billion.
BS was found guilty of violating Article 3 of Law No. 8 of 2010 on Money Laundering as an active perpetrator.
BS’s legal counsel, Rizky Hariyo Wibowo, argued that the panel of judges had not fully considered the facts presented at trial, particularly regarding the element of criminal intent or “mens rea”.
Rizky also questioned the basis upon which the judges deemed BS an active money laundering perpetrator.
He stated that the asset purchases were carried out by Lauw Swan Hie Samuel and Andreas Andriyanto, who transferred funds directly to the sellers’ accounts.
“If it was merely a signature due to his position, does that constitute an asset transfer? The transfer occurred because of payment, not because of a signature,” he said.
He added that payment had been made before BS signed the Preliminary Sale and Purchase Agreement (PPJB). The asset seller’s witness was also said to have never dealt directly with BS during the negotiation or payment process.
“The assets were purchased in the company’s name, not personally. If they wish to seize company assets, there should be a corporate criminal proceeding, and that was never carried out,” he said.
Furthermore, he noted that the trial predominantly discussed PT SMI and Net89, whilst the connection between Net89, SMI and PT CAD was not clearly established.
“This case concerns PT Cipta Aset Digital (CAD), yet the trial only discussed PT SMI and Net89,” he said.
Regarding the verdict, the defence stated it would take seven days to determine its position or legal course of action.