FOUR FORMER BI DEPUTY GOVERNORS SENTENCED TO 4 - 4.5 YEARS

Jakarta, June 17 (ANTARA) - The corruption court sentenced four former central bank deputy governors to jail terms on Wednesday for misusing Rp100 billion in funds of the Indonesian Banking Development Foundation (YPPI) in 2003.

The four defendants, namely Aulia Tantowi Pohan and Maman H Somantri got four-and-a-half years in jail and Bunbunan Hutapea and Aslim Tadjuddin four years.

"The defendants were proven convincingly and legitimately guilty of an act of corruption," the head of the panel of judges, Kresna Menon, said in reading the verdict.

The judges also fined each of them Rp200 million or an additional six months in jail.

Aulia Pohan, father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's eldest son, and Maman Somantri got a higher sentence because their role was bigger than the two other defendants in the crime.

The four had misused the YPPI funds to finance the cost of legal aid for former BI directors, namely Sudradjat Djiwandono, Hendro Budianto, Paul Sutopo and Heru Supraptomo as well as Iwan R Prawiranata.

Some of the funds had also gone to the House of Representatives (DPR) to smooth discussions on the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) case and revision of the BI Law.

Judge Hendra Yospin said the four had approved the use of the funds through BI board meetings on June 3, 2003 and July 22, 2003.

He said the four should not have approved the extension of the funds to the former BI directors. "Moreover, the money was used to replace the money spent by former BI officials," he said.

Hendra also said that they should not either have approved the extension of funds to the DPR members.

State officials must stop the habit of giving money for the settlement of a problem, he said. "Such a practice must stop," he added.

Judge Slamet Subagyo meanwhile said Aulia and other defendants had harmed the state with their act.

He said the YPPI funds came from Bank Indonesia. According to the BI Law, BI funds were separate state wealth and therefore the YPPI funds were also state funds.

"Based on it, the conditions to classify them as having caused a loss of state funds were met," he said.

All the defendants said they would appeal the court verdict.