Fugitive BLBI convict arrives to serve sentence

Very wanted person: Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) case convict Sherny Kojongian is rushed to a car through throngs of reporters before her handover to Indonesian authorities after her arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, west of Jakarta, on Wednesday. (JP/Fikri Z. Muhammadi)

The handover of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) convict Sherny Kojongian to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Wednesday morning finally took place after an initial delay (not cancelled as earlier reported).

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement was scheduled to hand over Sherny to the AGO at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Wednesday morning.

Although Sherny arrived in Jakarta at 8:10 a.m. on Garuda Indonesia GA 823, as of 9:30 a.m., there had been no word of her handover.

She was eventually escorted through the crowds by the police to a Toyota Innova, license plate number B1492WQ, supposedly headed for the AGO’s office. She wore sunglasses to cover her face.

Sherny, who fled Indonesia in 2002, was arrested in San Francisco on Nov. 10, 2010, after being red-flagged by Interpol in 2006.??

Sherny tried to fight her deportation, but the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected her appeal.??

Sherny was found guilty of misusing BLBI funds along with her late husband Hendra Rahardja, a former chief commissioner of now-defunct Bank Harapan Santosa (BHS).??

The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Sherny in absentia to 20 years in prison on March 18, 2002, along with her son and then BHS commissioner Eko Edi Putranto, who remains at large.

Hendra was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he died in Australia in 2002.?The court ruled that Sherny and her family caused Rp 1.95 billion (US$206,700) in state losses. (fzm/iwa)

Andi Kosasih’s sentence gets heavier again

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 05/25/2011 8:43 PM

The Supreme Court added two years to businessman Andi Kosasih’s sentence after it rejected his appeal.

Krisna Harahap, one of the judges in the panel, confirmed to Antara newswire the punishment increase.
“Aside from the imprisonment, Andi Kosasih has also been given a fine of Rp 6 billion, that, if unpaid, can be replaced with six months imprisonment,” he said.

Andi, whose trial was related to the high-profile graft case of former tax official Gayus H. Tambunan, was first sentenced with six years imprisonment in the District Court. The first appeal’s result was that the punishment increased to eight years.

Andi, along with lawyers Haposan Hutagalung and Lambertus Palang Ama, has been proven guilty of obstructing the investigation process of Gayus’ case.

According to the judges, Andi gave a bogus statement saying that the suspiciously large amount of wealth in Gayus’ account was his and was intended to build a business-housing block.

Taskforce played a role in determining Gayus' "light" sentence: Legislator

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 01/19/2011 9:20 PM | National

A legislator from the Golkar Party says that the Judicial Mafia Taskforce may have played a role in determining former tax officer Gayus H. Tambunan’s sentence, which he deems as being too light.

“Gayus’ confessions after the trial that explained how the taskforce promised he would undergo legal processes ‘safely and comfortably’ obviously shows the taskforce engages in ‘special treatment’,” Bambang Soesatyo said in a text message. “Therefore, it is not impossible that the taskforce had a hand in the light verdict,”

He said that if the taskforce was proven to have conducted such legal interventions, then it should be disbanded.

The legislator from Commission III overseeing legal affairs said that the seven-year sentence handed to Gayus for committing graft was, “Very disappointing…how can someone guilty of tax mafia only be sentenced to seven years in jail while the prosecutors demanded 20 years.”

Gayus mentioned in a press conference held after his trial that the Judicial Mafia Taskforce's  head, Denny Indrayana, lured him to return to Indonesia when the two met in Singapore in March last year, by assuring Gayus that he would be “safe and comfortable” during the legal process.