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span class="inline inline-left">Guilty smile: Nunun Nurbaeti (center) poses with her two friends duringher trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday. The court foundNunun guilty and sentenced her to 2.5 years in jail for her role in theelection of former Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor Miranda SwarayGoeltom in 2004. JP/Ricky YudhistiraThe Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced businesswoman Nunun Nurbaeti to two years and six months in prison on Wednesday for bribing lawmakers at the House of Representatives in the 2004 election of the Bank Indonesia (BI) senior deputy governor.

The court, however, did not mention whether the bribe money was from Nunun’s own pocket or from another source.

The sentence was more lenient than the four years sought by prosecutors. The businesswoman was declared a suspect in May last year and was on the run for months until she was nabbed in Bangkok last December.

“The defendant is found guilty of violating the corruption law,” presiding judge Sudjatmiko said, reading out the verdict.

Nunun, the wife of former National Police deputy chief Adang Daradjatun, was found guilty of paying Rp 20.85 billion (US$2.25 million) in the form of hundreds of traveler’s checks — each worth Rp 50 million — to dozens of lawmakers to swing the vote for Miranda Swaray Goeltom as BI senior deputy governor.

Nunun’s verdict came late as several legislators convicted of receiving the bribes have finished their jail terms. Miranda, who won the 2004 election, is now a suspect.

Though the panel of judges did not identify the benefactor, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) vowed to not back down in tracking the individual who funded the bribes, worth billions of rupiah.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said his office was still developing the case. “Yesterday, we questioned a witness from a private [company] in Medan, North Sumatra,” he added, but refused to give details.

The Rp 20.85 billion and Rp 1 billion checks were part of a total of Rp 24 billion in traveler’s checks bought by palm oil firm PT First Mujur Plantation and Industry for the purchase of local farmers’ small plantations in North Sumatra before the election.

First Mujur used Bank Artha Graha money to purchase the checks from Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII).

The paper trail went cold as the broker of the plantation deal, Ferry Yan, died in 2007. Many believed Ferry could reveal how the checks bearing the same serial numbers found their way into lawmakers’ pockets.

“About the benefactor, we are still conducting investigations into Miranda’s role,” Johan added.

Among those convicted in connection to the case, former lawmaker Agus Condro Prayitno, previously alleged that Miranda was only a part of a larger game, and that the amount of bribes paid for her selection for advancement within the central bank would have fallen well short of her senior deputy director salary for her entire 5-year term.

Moreover, both the judges and the prosecutors have questioned witnesses from all related actors about the relation between Nunun’s PT Wahana Esa Sejati and First Mujur, but have not found any important leads.

“I’d say this sentence is important for the KPK in our investigation into Miranda because she and Nunun are in similar positions in the bribery scheme,” Johan said. Yet, he lamented that the verdict fell short of the four years prosecutors had sought.

In handing down the sentence, the judges found that Nunun had ordered Ari Malangjudo, her subordinate at her palm oil plantation company Wahana Esa Sejati, to hand the bribes to the lawmakers.