Indonesia corruption court jails executives at insurer for 20 years

JAKARTA (Reuters) – An Indonesian court has sentenced two former heads of state insurer Asabri to 20 years in jail for graft after blaming them for causing 22.7 trillion rupiah ($1.58 billion) of losses to the state, the Antara news agency reported.

A panel of judges on Tuesday also ordered Adam Rachmat Damiri and Sonny Widjaja, who were chief executives at Asabri between 2012 and 2020, to repay the state a total of 82.47 billion rupiah and pay fines, the state news agency reported.

Prosecutors at the special corruption court in Jakarta had sought a 10-year jail term and fines, accusing the two of being involved in high risk investment decisions that turned sour.

Priyagus Widodo, Sonny’s lawyer, told Reuters the sentence was too heavy and said his client was considering an appeal. Adam’s legal counsel could not immediately be reached for comment.

Asabri is an insurance company that serves members of the military and police officers, as well as civil servants in the defence ministry.

The Asabri case is one of the most high profile in a crackdown on investment frauds in insurance firms, following defaults by another Indonesian state insurer Jiwasraya.

Some of Jiwasraya’s executives and business people found to have influenced its investments have been sentenced to life in prison.

A businessman, who was given a life sentence in the Jiwasraya case, is also facing charges that carry a potential death penalty in the Asabri case.

($1 = 14,355.0000 rupiah)

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Editing by Gayatri Suroyo and Ed Davies)