PT Sritex's Chairman Iwan Setiawan Lukminto Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison

The Chairman of PT Sritex, Iwan Setiawan Lukminto, the defendant in the alleged corruption case involving the granting of credit facilities that harmed the state by Rp1.3 trillion, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. However, the verdict read out was lighter than the prosecutors’ demand of 16 years. In addition to the prison sentence, the defendant was also imposed a fine of Rp1 billion, which if not paid will be replaced with imprisonment for 90 days. “We declare the defendant guilty of violating Article 603 of the Criminal Code on corruption crimes and Article 607 of the Criminal Code on money laundering crimes (TPPU),” said Chief Judge Rommel Franciskus Tampubolon at the Corruption Court in Semarang, Central Java, on Wednesday (6/5). In its considerations, the judge stated that the defendant was proven to have applied for loans from three regional banks using fabricated financial reports for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. He explained that the purpose of the loans from the three banks was to pay bills to PT Sritex’s suppliers. However, the judge continued, PT Sritex itself created the invoices used for securing the loans. The disbursed credit into the suppliers’ accounts, he said, was then withdrawn back to PT Sritex’s account under the name Toko Wijaya. “The loan disbursement was not in accordance with its purpose; the invoices used for disbursement were created by PT Sritex itself,” he said. The judge also stated that the defendant, along with PT Sritex’s President Director Iwan Kurniawan Lukminto and Finance Director Alan Moran Saverino, engineered the application for a delay in debt payment obligations (PKPU). The defendant was proven to have committed TPPU by diverting, placing, or transferring funds from the loan disbursements from the three regional government banks not in accordance with their purpose. The loan disbursement funds that returned to PT Sritex’s coffers and mixed with the company’s legitimate income were used to purchase land, rice fields, buildings, property, and to pay off debts. He described the defendant’s actions as structured misconduct by exploiting Sritex’s prominent name, making it difficult to detect. The judge stated that the defendant’s actions constituted harm to state finances because the placement of regional budget funds (APBD) as capital in regional government banks is part of state finances. In its considerations, the defendant’s actions do not support the government’s programme in eradicating corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN). “The defendant does not feel guilty, the defendant does not admit his actions, the state loss incurred is quite large,” he said. In the verdict, the judge also imposed additional punishment in the form of repayment of state losses amounting to Rp677 billion, which if not paid will be replaced with imprisonment for six years. Regarding the verdict, both the defendant and the public prosecutor still intend to consider their appeals.