Former BI gov to face 8 years in prison, Rp 500 m fine

Erwida Maulia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 10/08/2008 12:02 PM | National

Former Bank Indonesia governor Burhanuddin Abdullah faces eight years' imprisonment and a Rp 500 million (US$52,000) fine if he is proven guilty in a major bribery scandal involving the central bank.

The State Prosecutors Office "charges the defendant Burhanuddin Abdullah with 8 years' imprisonment and a fine of Rp 500 million with a 6 months subsidiary imprisonment", state prosecutor Rudi Margono told the Corruption Court on Wednesday.

Margono accused the defendant and the bank's board of governors at that time of violating the 1999 Corruption Law by embezzling Rp 100 billion from the Indonesian Banking Development Foundation (YPPI).

The offense carries a maximum penalty of a life in prison and a maximum fine of Rp 1 billion.

The Corruption Court earlier heard that some Rp 31.5 billion of the fund was distributed to all the members of Commission IX to expedite the amendment of the BI law in 2003, while Rp 68.5 billion of the fund was used for legal aid for former BI senior officials.

Further, Margono argued contrary to the defense claims that YPPI funds were private funds.

"The YPPI funds are state-owned funds as that foundation receives its wealth from a state institution, namely Bank Indonesia," he said.

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