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)