A higher court dismissed an appeal Friday filed by state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan and reinforced his sentence for accepting a cash bribe of US$660,000 to stop investigations into a massive loan scandal.

The High Corruption Court upheld the 20-year jail term recommended by the Corruption Court and fined him Rp 500 million (US$40,000).

Failure to pay the fine results in an additional eight months' imprisonment, a revised verdict of the one year punishment recommended by the Corruption Court.

"The verdict was handed down yesterday. It reinforced the decision made by the first level court," Madya Suharja, who was among five judges dealing with the case, told the press Friday.

The panel of judges, led by Miswari Ismijati, were divided over the verdict, with two members -- Abdurrahman Hasan and Surya Jaya -- demanding a much harsher sentence.

"Two judges wanted Urip sentenced to life in prison because he committed the crime while serving as a prosecutor and law enforcer," Madya said.

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors had previously demanded that Urip be jailed for 15 years and fined Rp 250 million.

In September, the Corruption Court sentenced Urip to 20 years for accepting a bribe from businesswoman Artalyta Suryani, who was closely linked to business tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.

Urip was further convicted of extorting Rp 1 billion from former Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency chief Glenn Yusuf through his lawyer Reno Iskandarsyah.

Urip and Artalyta were arrested by the KPK just two days after the Attorney General's Office (AGO) dropped its investigation into Sjamsul and businessman Anthony Salim for their alleged role in embezzling a huge loan disbursed by the government under the Indonesian Banking Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) scheme.

Urip had previously led an AGO team investigating the misuse of Rp 28.4 trillion in BLBI) in funds by Sjamsul, former owner of the now defunct Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia. Sjamsul remains the only fraudulent debtor among 37 witnesses who managed to evade three questioning sessions about his BLBI case.

Urip was convicted of providing information to Artalyta about AGO plans to summon Sjamsul and other investigation developments.

Earlier this month, the High Corruption Court also rejected Artalyta's appeal to challenge her five-year jail sentence handed down by the Corruption Court.

The higher court ordered the convicted businesswoman to serve an additional five months' imprisonment if she failed to pay a Rp 250 million fine.

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