Briton, Saudi Get 15 Years For Bank Century Saga

Jakarta Globe, Heru Andriyanto | December 16, 2010

Jakarta. Two co-owners of Bank Century were convicted on Thursday for corruption, money laundering and looting their own bank. They were sentenced to 15 years in jail in an in-absentia trial by the Central Jakarta District Court.

Hesham al Warraq, 52, a Saudi citizen, and Rafat Ali Rizvi, 50, born in Pakistan but currently a British citizen, were found guilty of looting their own bank and benefiting from the government's bailout.

Both men, who were declared fugitives by the police last year, used Bank Century assets to buy and exchange non-rating bonds without market value for personal gains, and because the bank received state funding, their acts inflicted financial losses to the state.

In fact, the bank never received cash payments in the transactions, but was paid in shares instead, the court heard.

"The two defendants are proven to have enriched themselves," said presiding judge Masrudin Nainggolan. "The state loss according to the Supreme Audit Agency amounts to $ 286.5 million, equivalent to Rp3.1 trillion."

"They were involved in a blatant conspiracy to perform fraudulent bank practices of junk bonds trade in violation to the banking law, and then fled the legal proceedings," said the judge.

"The defendants must return Rp3.1 trillion to the state within a month, or prosecutors will seize their personal assets," said the judge. Any failure to repay will risk an additional term of five years, he said.

The court also ordered the seizure of personal assets in foreign countries belonging to the third owner of Bank Century, Robert Tantular, who was convicted earlier of bank fraud, in order to recover the stolen state assets.