Former Gerindra Party city councillor Mohammad Sanusi was sentenced on Thursday to seven years in prison in a bribery and money-laundering case related to the controversial Jakarta Bay reclamation project.

The panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court found that the businessman-turned-politician, who became notorious for his luxurious lifestyle, which raised eyebrows given his income as a councilor, had accepted Rp 2 billion (US$148,500) in illicit kickbacks from Ariesman Widjaja, then president director of developer company PT Agung Podomoro Land (APL), and laundered billions of rupiah of his unaccounted wealth.

“The defendant has been found guilty of corruption and bribery as charged,” presiding judge Sumpeno said.

Ariesman was previously sentenced by the same court to three years in prison and a Rp 200 million fine in the bribery case. Also in September, the same court sentenced Ariesman’s aide, Trinanda Prihantoro, to two-and-a-half years in prison, with a fine of Rp 150 million for assisting his boss in transferring the money to Sanusi.

Sumpeno, however, said the judges could not accept the demand by prosecutors from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to strip Sanusi of his political rights, saying the court had no authority on that issue. The judges also ordered Sanusi’s assets, including an apartment and luxury cars, to be impounded.

KPK prosecutors had demanded that the former councilor be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and stripped of his right to run for public office for the next five years. Prosecutors argued Sanusi, as a politician who had been elected a councilor, had undermined public trust by abusing his position.

In December 2015 and February this year, Sanusi, who played an important role in the deliberation of the North Jakarta coast zoning plan bill, initiated at least two meetings with Sugianto “Aguan” Kusuma, the chairman of Agung Sedayu Group, and Ariesman, in which the ex-councilor was asked to help get the bill passed.

The bill was crucial as it regulated not only the zoning of Jakarta’s coastal areas, but also the 17 man-made islets in the reclamation project, the construction and marketing of which is being conducted by APL.

In follow-up meetings in March, Ariesman had promised that he would deliver Rp 2.5 billion to Sanusi if he could pass the reclamation project’s draft bylaw and reduce the developer’s 15 percent contribution clause in the bill to only 5 percent. The request was later accepted by Sanusi after the businessman said the money was a form of support for Sanusi to run as governor candidate, according to the indictment.

The trial also revealed Sanusi’s lavish lifestyle as he was able to afford not only a Rp 3.2 billion apartment unit in South Jakarta, Rp 7.2 billion of land and other assets, but also an Audi A5 and Jaguar XJL worth Rp 850 million and Rp 2.2 billion, respectively.

As the judge closed the hearing, Sanusi said he would consider filing an appeal, but maintained that he was ready for the sentence. “I am here because of Allah and I feel that this part [of my life] has been arranged by Him.”

Sanusi is the younger brother of the Jakarta City Council deputy chairman Muhammad Taufik, who is also a Gerindra Party politician.

Taufik is also a former corruption convict. In 2004, he was found guilty in a corruption case related to procurement projects when he served as a Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU) member.

Popular

Responsibility to protect

Breaking barriers for women in soccer

Wilmar executive, lawyers found guilty in $4 million palm oil bribery case