Ex-consul jailed for graft

Irawaty Wardany ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 04/29/2009 3:40 PM  |  National

Former Indonesian consul general in Kinabalu, Malaysia, Kurniawan Roebadi was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison for receiving part of the RM 580,260 (US$161,000) of embezzled immigration fees from 2004 to 2005.

"The defendant has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of collective corruption and therefore shall serve one-and-a-half years in prison," presiding judge Gusrizal said when reading out the verdict at the Corruption Court.

The court also ordered Kurniawan to pay a Rp 50 million or serve an additional three months in jail should he fail to pay.

He was also ordered to pay RM 200 in restitution to the state.

Gusrizal said Kurniawan as a consul knew about a certain fund at the consulate general that came from the double immigration fees charged to visa applicants at Kinabalu.

Kurniawan and his subordinates, Mas Tata Machron, Irsyafli Rosul and Makdum Tahir, submitted the income tax reports based on the lower fees and embezzled the difference, which was later used to finance activities not allocated for in the consulate general's budget, and disbursed as religious allowance to home staff and local staff.

"They have embezzled RM 580,260 that was supposed to be reported to the state," Gusrizal said.

However, he added, the defendant was only proven to have take RM 200 to pay for his and his wife's return tickets to Jakarta.

Kurniawan said he accepted the verdict.
  

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