The Indonesian authorities are preparing to prosecute two foreign former owners of a bank who are accused of systematically looting a bank soon after it was rescued by the state.

One former owner of Bank Century has already been handed down a heavy jail sentence for his involvement in scams that utilised millions of US dollars of fake L/Cs (DC World News 13 January 2010).

Trial in absentia

Fugitive suspected fraudsters, Hesham al Warraq and Rafat Ali Rizvi, are to be indicted for a trial in absentia according to state prosecutors.

The two men inflicted losses of US$336 million on the state via Bank Century, according to the prosecutors.

Bailout

Bank Century had received US$670 million in government bailout money.

A third owner, an Indonesian national called Robert Tantular, has already been convicted of bank fraud and is serving five years in jail.

Under Robert's leadership, the bank issued fake L/Cs totalling US$138 million and embezzled millions of US dollars from the bank, according to a court spokesman.

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