Two ex-Bapindo bosses face 11, 9 years in jail

Two ex-Bapindo bosses face 11, 9 years in jail

JAKARTA (JP): State prosecutors at the Central Jakarta
district court sought a total of 20 years imprisonment for two
former executives of Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo) for
their role in a huge loan scam.

They demanded that Sjahrizal and Bambang Kuntjoro, former
Bapindo directors, be sentenced to eleven and nine years
imprisonment respectively.

"We demand that the presiding judge sentence Sjahrizal to 11
years' imprisonment for collaborating with other directors and
allowing irregularities to occur at Bapindo," Chief Prosecutor
Ridwan Moekiat said.

"We also appeal to the judges to order Sjahrizal to pay a fine
of Rp 30 million ($13,686.13), or sentence him to an additional
six months in prison in default," he added.

Moekiat said Sjahrizal also helped enrich a "third party", an
obvious reference to Eddy Tansil, the owner of the Golden Key
Group to whom the huge Bapindo loans were extended.

The prosecutors said Sjahrizal, in his dealing with Tansil,
violated a number of banking principles and standard procedures,
allowing Tansil to cash in on huge loans.

Sjahrizal, according to the prosecution, failed to exercise
the caution required of a bank director in approving the huge
loans without requiring Tansil to sign a loan contract.

Tansil was sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment by the Central
Jakarta District Court last August in connection with the huge
loan scam. He had cashed in on his Bapindo loans without ever
signing a single contract for them.

Tansil was also ordered to pay Rp 500 million in restitution
and a fine of Rp 30 million.

Meanwhile chief prosecutor S.T. Silangit told the Court in a
separate trial that Bambang Kuntjoro, through collaboration with
other Bapindo directors, was responsible for the huge losses
inflicted on the state bank.

"We ask the presiding judge to sentence Bambang Kuntjoro to
nine years in prison," Silangit said.

He also asked the judges to order Bambang to pay Rp 30 million
in fines or to sentence him to an additional six months in prison
in default.

Silangit said in his indictment that Bambang neglected banking
principles of orderliness, allowing Maman Suparman, former deputy
manager of Bapindo Jakarta, to convert the letter of credits
(L/C) from Usance into Red Clause without the directors'
approval.

Maman has already been sentenced to nine years in prison by
the South Jakarta District Court for his role in helping Tansil
in the scandal.

Silangit said that Bambang also neglected the principle of
carefulness in approving the request of Eddy Tansil to open the
Usance L/C facilities, which were used to finance Tansil's
ambitious petrochemical projects. He approved the facility
without any prior sales contract, credit agreement, or clear
deposit, Silangit said.

The last

Sjahrizal and Bambang will be the last in a band of former
Bapindo's directors queuing for the judges' decision.

Subekti Ismaun, a former Bapindo's president, is currently
waiting for the South Jakarta District Court's decision, which
has tried him also on corruption charges. The decision is
expected to be declared in two weeks time.

Towil Heryoto, another former Bapindo's president, was the
first to be convicted among four former Bapindo directors who are
being tried in connection with the Rp 1.3 trillion ($620 million)
loan scandal at the state's bank. He was sentenced to eight
years' imprisonment by the South Jakarta District Court last
week. He was also ordered to pay Rp 30 million in fines or spend
another six months in prison.

Adi Sugondho, the fifth former Bapindo's director, has not
been charged apparently because he was not as extensively
involved as the other four.(imn)