A former banker with a previous conviction for fraud has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for his part in the US$200 million Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) letter of credit (L/C) scam uncovered three years ago. (DC World News 4 November 2003).

An Indonesian court heard that Dicky Iskandar Di Nata conspired with business partners Marie Pauline Lumowa and Adrian Waworuntu to defraud BNI's Kebayoran Baru branch with the help of some bankers via fictitious L/Cs obtained with false documents.

Di Nata's role

Prosecutors argued that Lumowa bought 70 per cent of PT Brocolin International, a company owned by Di Nata. Lumowa acquired her stake in the company so the scam could be perpetrated quickly. It would have taken about three months to set up a new company.

Brocolin was subsequently used to receive L/C proceeds from several companies owned by Lumowa and then channel funds to other bank accounts. The court heard that Di Nata used his ill-gotten gains to buy six plantations.

Sentences

Several former bank employees and investigators in the BNI frauds have already been found guilty and sentenced for their parts in this massive fraud or for receiving bribes to help the fraudsters avoid prosecution.

Former Indonesian presidential hopeful Waworuntu was handed a life sentence last month, but the alleged ringleader, Lumowa, has absconded and is believed to be living in Singapore.

Prosecutors called for a death sentence for Di Nata, but the court ruled this out because there was no call for capital punishment in his indictment.

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