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Prosecutors demand 15 years for Syafruddin in BLBI case
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Syafruddin Arsyad Temenggung, the former chairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), talks to his lawyer Yusril Ihza Mahendra during a trial session at the Jakarta Corruption Court. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A)
C
orruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors have demanded that Syafruddin Arsyad Temenggung, the former chairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), be sent to 15 years behind bars for his role in a case related to irregularities surrounding the disbursement of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI).
They also demanded that Syafruddin pay Rp 1 billion (US$67,465) in fines for allegedly manipulating the credit status so that a recipient bank did not have to pay back its debt in full, in a case which caused Rp 4.58 trillion in state losses.
Syafruddin was accused of issuing a letter in 2004 for Sjamsul Nursalim, the owner of Bank Dagang Negara Indonesia (BDNI), freeing him from paying debt owed to the government.
KPK prosecutors also found that Syafruddin had allegedly cooperated with Sjamsul and his wife, Itjih S Nursalim, as well as then-coordinating economic minister and Financial System Stability Committee (KKSK) chairman Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti in the graft case.
"We demand that the judges of the Jakarta Corruption Court find the defendant guilty of corruption together [with the other parties] under Article 2.1 of the 2001 Corruption Law," prosecutor Haerudin said on Monday.
Syafruddin allegedly sent a letter to Dorodjatun, recommending that the KKSK write off some of Sjamsul's debts, citing that the decision was based on a limited Cabinet meeting led by then-president Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Dorojatun later issued a KKSK decree in accordance to Syafruddin's recommendation, while in fact, the two officials, who had joined the Cabinet meeting, knew that the meeting had never concluded or approved the writing off of the debts, according to prosecutors.
BDNI received Rp 28 trillion in BLBI funds, which was disbursed by the government through Bank Indonesia for 48 commercial banks to cope with massive runs during the 1998 monetary crisis. It was later discovered that 95 percent of the Rp 144.5 trillion funds had been embezzled. (swd)
