News / National / Article Nivell Rayda Hamka and Antony Jailed for Roles in BI Corruption Scandal The Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday sentenced former legislators Hamka Yandhu and Antony Zeidra Abidin to prison for accepting Rp 31.5 billion ($2.93 million) in connection with the 2004 Bank Indonesia corruption scandal.
The guilty verdicts came two days after the same court sentenced Al-Amin Nasution, who is still a sitting legislator, to eight years in prison in a separate trial for influence peddling and extortion, dealing yet another blow to the tarnished image of the House of Representatives. Antony was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and fined Rp 250 million, while Hamka got three years and a fine of Rp 150 million. Antony received a harsher sentence after the court ruled he had played a more active role in the crime and also tried to mislead judges during his trial. In 2004, members of the House financial commission were discussing amendments to the law on the central bank as well as arbitrating a dispute between Bank Indonesia and the Finance Ministry about the return of Rp 138 trillion in state bank bailout funds. Prosecutors allege that Bank Indonesia officials approached Antony, who chaired the House's banking subcommittee, offering money in exchange for favorable changes to the central bank law and support in the dispute with the Finance Ministry. Antony and Hamka, then members of the Golkar Party, channeled between Rp 300 million and Rp 1 billion to all 52 members of the House financial commission, and keeping Rp 500 billion for themselves, the court ruled. Antony also gave Rp 3 billion in kickbacks to two Bank Indonesia officials. The court, presided over by Judge Masrurdin Chaniago, ruled that the money was not a bribe as insisted by prosecutors, but a gratuity related to the defendants' work. "At the trial, there was no evidence that indicates that the amendment was favorable to Bank Indonesia nor was there any endorsement in the dispute," Judge Hendra Yospin, one of the five members of the panel, said in the ruling. The court nonetheless ruled that Antony and Hamka received the money in connection with their authority as lawmakers, which is illegal. The court, however, did not order the two to give back the money because it was not mentioned in their indictment. "We know we didn't include compensation in the indictment, but the court recorded that they had received the money, and we feel they should compensate the money they had taken," senior prosecutor Rudi Margono told reporters after the verdict. Prosecutors are considering whether to lodge an appeal against the sentences for being too lenient, while Antony's lawyer, Maqdir Ismail, said he may appeal because the harsher sentence given to his client was unwarranted. Three former senior central bank officials were sentenced to prison late last year in connection with the Bank Indonesia scandal, while four others have been declared suspects. http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/article/5419.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
