Semuel, Former Director-General of Aptika, Sentenced to Six Years' Imprisonment in PDNS Bribery Case
Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, who served as Director-General of the Directorate General of Informatics Applications (Aptika) from 2016 to 2024 at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (now the Ministry of Communication and Digital Infrastructure), has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of accepting bribes in the National Data Centre (PDNS) corruption case.
Presiding Judge Lucy Ermawati declared that Semuel had proven to have accepted bribes totalling Rp6.5 billion from co-defendant Alfi Asman in exchange for awarding PT Aplikanusa Lintasarta contracts for several projects.
The court determined that this conduct had caused state financial losses.
“The court declares the defendant Semuel proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt of corruption, as charged in the first alternative primary charge,” said the presiding judge during the verdict reading session at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday, 10 March, as reported by Antara.
In addition to imprisonment, Semuel was also ordered to pay a fine of Rp500 million, with the alternative of 140 days’ additional imprisonment if unpaid.
The judges also imposed an additional penalty requiring Semuel to pay restitution of Rp6.5 billion, which was credited against Rp6 billion in funds already returned and seized. This leaves a remaining restitution obligation of Rp500 million, payable with an alternative of six months’ additional imprisonment if unpaid.
The presiding judge determined that the state suffered losses of Rp140.86 billion due to the enrichment of PT Aplikanusa Lintasarta resulting from Semuel’s actions and those of four co-defendants.
The four other defendants in the alleged corruption case involving procurement and management of the PDNS at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics during 2020–2022 are as follows:
Alfi Asman, Business Director of PT Aplikanusa Lintasarta (2014–2022), and Pini Panggar Agusti, Account Manager at PT Dokotel Teknologi (2017–2021), were each sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
Bambang Dwi Anggono, Director of Government Informatics Application Services at the Directorate General of Aptika (2019–2023), and Nova Zanda, Officer in Charge of Procurement and PDNS Management at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (2020–2022), received sentences of nine years and five years respectively.
All five defendants were also ordered to pay fines of Rp500 million each, with the alternative of 140 days’ additional imprisonment if unpaid.
Specifically, Bambang and Pini were additionally ordered to pay restitution of Rp1.5 billion and Rp1 billion respectively, with alternatives of one year and six months’ additional imprisonment respectively if unpaid.
For their conduct, all defendants were found guilty of violating Article 603 in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of the Indonesian Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption Offences, as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001.
The sentences were lighter than the prosecution’s demands. Previously, Semuel and Alfi had been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, Bambang to ten years, Nova to six years, and Pini to eight years. The prosecutors had also sought larger fines of Rp750 million each with alternatives of 165 days’ additional imprisonment, and had requested that additional restitution penalties be imposed, with Semuel ordered to pay Rp6 billion (already deducted from seized assets), Bambang Rp3 billion (alternative four years’ imprisonment), and Pini Rp1 billion (alternative two years’ imprisonment).