Eight years sought for $8m graft suspect
Tuesday, August 1 2006 - 02:08 AM WIB
PT Pertamina Energy Trading Limited (Petral) is the Singapore-based subsidiary of Indonesia?s state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina.
?The accused must compensate for the state losses of $8 million or Rp 74.2 billion he has caused, and pay a fine of Rp 300 million ($32,200),? Arnold Angkow one of the prosecutors, told presiding judge Agus Subroto during the session.
The prosecutors charged that Zainul had transferred $9 million in 2002 from the firm s account at Paribas Bank Hong Kong to Credit Suisse Singapore (CSS) bank, without the permission or acknowledgement of Petral?s board of directors as required by Pertamina.
?The accused transferred the money to open a letter of credit from CSS bank, while he had not yet made any agreement with the bank,? the prosecutors said.
Zainul later moved $8 million from CSS bank to the account of fellow suspect H Dedy Budhiman Garna at Aceasia bank with which Zainul had a business agreement. Zainul allegedly counterfeited the signature of the firm?s president director Soekono Wahjoe to transfer the money.
The $8 million credit transferred to Dedy from CSS bank was guaranteed by the $9 million account of PT Petral there Dedy failed to pay back the loan to CSS bank and the Petral account was used to offset Dedy?s debt.
The prosecutors charged that Zainul?s action had enriched Dedy or Aceasia bank, although there was no direct evidence that he had personally benefited from the transaction.
After the session, Zainul, who was accompanied by his mother, responded coolly to the prosecutors? demands, saying he was not guilty. ?I still have God,? Zainul said. He added that he would let his lawyer, Wirawan Adnan, make his defense.
Presiding judge Agus Subroto adjourned the session until Aug. 7, when Zainul will enter his plea. (*)