The Corruption Court sentenced four former diplomats to two years in jail each Thursday for embezzling around RM 2.24 million (US$615,000) worth of immigration fees during their operations in Kinabalu, Malaysia.
The four convicted officials, who served between 1999 and 2002, are former consul general in Kinabalu Arifin Hamzah, former head of economic, social and cultural affairs Radite Edyatmo, former sub-immigration division head Ayi Nugraha and former Tawau City sub-immigration division head Kamso Simatupang.
"We find the four defendants convincingly guilty of collective corruption, and sentence them to two years in prison," the presiding judge, Martini Mardja, read out as the verdict was handed down at the Corruption Court in Jakarta on Thursday.
The defendants were also ordered to pay Rp 100 million in fines or face an additional three months in prison.
The verdict was less than the two and a half years demanded by prosecutors for Arifin, Ayi and Kamso, though a three-year jail term was asked for Radite due to his uncooperative behavior during the trial.
The four were sentenced for embezzling RM 2.24 million worth of immigration fees during the three years they were posted in Kinabalu. They were proven to have submitted income tax reports based on lower immigration fees to the state, while charging visa applicants at the consulate general higher fees.
Judge Anwar said Arifin took RM 5,000 from the embezzled money, Radite received RM 28,000, Ayi bagged RM 3,000 and Kamso pocketed RM 70,000.
All the defendants except Arifin, have since returned the stolen money. Arifin was subsequently ordered to return the RM 5,000 (Rp 11 million) to the state or serve an additional six-months imprisonment.
During the trial, the defendants claimed a portion of the money was used to finance projects not funded by the consulate budget, such as entertaining consulate guests and settling problems faced by Indonesian labor workers. The rest was distributed among the consulate's local and home staff.
"The defendants profited for themselves and others from their actions," Anwar said.
He said in 1999, Arifin issued two different decrees on immigration fees, which were implemented by Radite in Kinabalu, Ayi in Kuching and Kamso in Tawau City.
"They charged higher fees to visa applicants, while reporting lower income fees to the state," Anwar said.
Both prosecutors and the defendants' lawyers have not yet decided whether to file an appeal or not.
Meanwhile, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Arifin's successor in Kinabalu, Mohammad Sukarna, the former head of the communications, economics, social and cultural division, Mas Tata Mahrun and two former immigration officials - Irsyafli Rasul and Makdum Tahir.
