Pare-pare mayor gets 1-year in prison over Rp 1.5b in graft

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar | Wed, 06/02/2010 5:13 PM

Makassar District Court of South Sulawesi Wednesday sentenced Pare-pare Mayor Zain Katoe one year in prison and Rp 100 million in fines for corruption. The prosecutor had sought two years.

The panel of four judges found Zain guilty for conducting graft and causing Rp 1.5 billion in state losses back in 2004.

Zain said that he would challenge the verdict.

Zain, who was Pare-pare mayor between 2003-2008, set a cooperation with Fresh Landek to establish PT Pares Bandar Madani, a state-run company aimed to work on trade and industry fields.

In their initial agreement, Pare-pare administration and Fresh Landek were to bear equal shares in capital. In fact, the administration burdened the whole Rp 1.5 billion in capital and the company was shown to be fictitious.