Jakarta - Four former deputy governors of Bank Indonesia,
including an in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, went on
trial on Friday for their alleged role in a multi-million-dollar
embezzlement case that has embroiled the central bank.
Prosecutors accused the four defendants - Aulia Pohan, Bunbunan
Hutapea, Maman Sumantri and Aslim Tadjuddin - of misusing 100 billion
rupiah (8.8 million dollars) from a foundation run by Bank Indonesia
in 2003.
The indictment said 31 billion rupiah of the money was used to
bribe legislators who were conducting an inquiry into the alleged
misuse of central bank bailout funds injected to troubled banks at
the height of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
The money was also intended to influence legislators discussing an
amendment of the central bank law, prosecutors said.
The remainder was spent on legal expenses for sitting and former
Bank Indonesia officials facing prosecution over the alleged misuse
of the bailout funds, the indictment said.
The defendants could face 20 years in jail if found guilty under
the country's anti-corruption law.
Under public pressure and following court testimony from other
suspects in the case, investigators from the powerful Corruption
Eradication Commission arrested Pohan, whose daughter is married to
the eldest son of President Yudhoyono in November.
Pohan was the last Bank Indonesia official to be detained.
The defendants' chief lawyer, Otto Kaligis, said his clients were
innocent because the money they used belonged to the foundation, not
Bank Indonesia, and therefore their action caused no loss to the
state.
'They were acting in their personal capacity, not as Bank
Indonesia officials,' he told reporters.
Earlier this month, the anti-corruption court sentenced two
legislators, Anthony Zeidra Abidin and Hamka Yandhu, to
four-and-a-half years and three years respectively for accepting
banker's the bribe money.
In October, a former central bank governor, Burhanuddin Abdullah,
was jailed for five years for his role in the embezzlement case.
Two other senior central bank officials, Oey Hoeng Tiong and Rusli
Simanjuntak, were each sentenced to four years in prison.
The central bank has undergone a series of reforms after various
corruption investigations in the past decade.
Indonesia ranks as one of the world's most corruption-prone
countries.
Over the past year, investigations by the powerful Corruption
Eradication Commission have led to the arrest of several high-profile
figures, including a top prosecutor, businessmen and legislators.
Since Yudhoyono won Indonesia's first direct presidential
elections in 2004 on pledges to root out corruption, officials
including governors and former ministers have been jailed on graft
charges.
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