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Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Jakarta Corruption Court on Friday sentenced a former director of state gold miner PT Antam Tbk to four years in prison in a corruption case related to the sale and purchase of gold bullion.
The convict, Abdul Hadi Aviciena, was also fined Rp 500 million (approximately US$31,000).
“We find the defendant, Abdul Hadi Aviciena, guilty of corruption as charged in the primary indictment,” Chief Judge Tony Irfan said during the reading of the verdict.
The court found that Abdul Hadi, a former general manager of Antam, had violated Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption, as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001.
The court ruled that if the fine is not paid, it will be replaced by a three-month prison sentence.
When determining the sentence, the court took into account both aggravating and mitigating circumstances. It noted that Abdul Hadi’s actions were detrimental to the government’s program and caused state losses, which served as aggravating factors.
“However, the court recognized mitigating circumstances, including the fact that the suspect had no previous criminal convictions and had not personally benefited from his actions,” the chief justice said.
This sentence is less severe than the prosecutor’s demand of seven years in prison.
In the corruption case, Abdul Hadi was accused of causing state losses worth Rp92.25 billion (about US$5.71 million).
These losses were attributed to his inability to oversee the implementation of quarterly stock inventories at all Antam Boutiques, including the Surabaya 01 Precious Metal Gold Boutique (BELM), which saw a significant increase in gold sales in 2018.
Abdul Hadi’s negligence in monitoring these inventories resulted in a physical shortage of 152.8 kilograms of Antam gold at BELM Surabaya 01, which ultimately caused state losses.
Earlier the same day, Budi Said, often referred to as “Crazy Rich Surabaya”, was given a 15-year prison sentence after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering in connection with the Antam gold trading scandal.
He was also fined Rp1 billion, with the alternative of six months in prison, and ordered to repay 58.841 kilograms of Antam gold (worth Rp35.53 billion) or face another eight years in prison.
Said was accused of causing the state financial losses of Rp1.07 trillion (about US$66.19 million).
The alleged corruption occurred when Said received an excess of 58.13 kilograms of Antam gold (worth Rp35.07 billion) that did not match the gold sales invoice and without making any payment to Antam.
In addition to the corruption charges, Said also faced money laundering charges related to the proceeds of his alleged corruption, including concealing Antam gold sales transactions and using them as capital for CV Bahari Sentosa Alam.
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Reporter: Agatha Olivia Victoria, Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
Editor: Anton Santoso
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