Prosecutors seek life sentence for Adrian
Prosecutors seek life sentence for Adrian
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Prosecutors demanded bank fraud suspect Adrian Herling Waworuntu
be sentenced to life for his alleged role in the embezzlement of
Rp 1.7 trillion (US$182 million) of Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI)
funds in 2002.
Prosecutors also demanded Adrian be fined another Rp 1 billion
(US$107.526) in financial penalties and another Rp 6.8 billion to
replace a portion of the lost funds, chief prosecutor Syaiful
Thahir said at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday.
The businessman was charged according to Law No. 20/2001 on
corruption eradication and Law No. 25/2003 on money laundering.
Adrian was brought to court after being declared one of the
key suspects in the BNI scandal, which centered in the alleged
unlawful disbursement of some Rp 1.7 trillion worth of export
credits by the bank's South Jakarta branch to two companies -- PT
Petindo and Gramarindo Group.
Although Adrian was not in the management of any related
companies, prosecutors said he was guilty in his capacity as the
financial advisor for main suspect Maria Pauline Lumowa, a
commissioner at Gramarindo, and had assisted the embezzlement.
Prosecutors also alleged Adrian had fled from justice. They
said he and was guilty of causing huge losses to the state at a
time when the banking sector had just started to recover from the
devastating impact of the financial crisis.
After the BNI case surfaced in 2003, Adrian fled to Singapore
to escape police investigations, although he later returned home
after the Indonesian government put pressure on Singapore to
expel him.
Responding to prosecutors, Adrian's lawyer Yan Djuanda Saputra
said the indictment was engineered to make Adrian look guilty of
breaking the law.
"In their indictments, the responsible ones are Ollah Abdullah
Agam, Adrian Pandelaki Lumowa and Titi Priswanti. Prosecutors
made it look like Adrian is also guilty although Adrian was only
an investment consultant for Maria," he said.
Adrian said would fight the case vigorously.
"If I'm guilty, I'm prepared to be punished, but of course
with a proportional punishment," he said.
Presiding judge Roki Pandjaitan adjourned the trial until
March 3 when the defense delivers their response.
Adrian is the ninth of a total of 17 suspects in the BNI
scandal to be tried. The first eight suspects have all been
sentenced to prison. They were John Hamenda -- 20 years; Olla
Abdullah Agam, Aprilla Widata and Adrian Pandelaki, all 15 years;
Richard Kountul, 10 years, and Titik Pristiwati, eight years.
BNI Kebayoran Baru head Koesadiyuwono, meanwhile, received 15
years, while Edi Santoso, the branch's customer service head was
sentenced to life.