Budi Said, a crazy rich from Surabaya has been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment by the Jakarta Corruption Court for alleged corruption in Antam gold trading.
Budi was also deemed to have committed corruption and also money laundering crime (TTPU) at the same time.
“The defendant, Budi Said, was sentenced to imprisonment of up to 15 years for the Antam gold trading case,” Toni Irfan, Chief Judge in the case, said.
Toni said Budi Said had violated Article 2 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of the Corruption Eradication Law and also Article 55 paragraph (1) point 1 of the Criminal Code, Article 64 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code and Article 3 of Law No. 8/2010 on the Prevention and Eradication of TPPU.
However, the verdict against Budi was much lower than the public prosecutor had demanded of 16 years imprisonment and a fine of nearly Rp1 billion (US$61,851) and a subsidiary of 6 months imprisonment.
If the fine is not paid, it will be replaced with 6 months in prison. Budi must also pay compensation for state losses in the form of 58.841kg of Antam gold, equivalent to Rp35.5 billion (US$2.2 million).
In addition, if the compensation money cannot be paid within a month after the verdict is valid, Budi’s assets will be confiscated and auctioned to cover the unpaid compensation. Furthermore, if his wealth is not enough, it will be replaced with 8 years of imprisonment.
The case beginning
The case started in 2018, when Budi made a transaction of 100kg worth of gold in Antam in Surabaya with official prices. Based on the results of the agreement with several parties, Budi received a cut price from several broker:
- Endang Kumoro, Head of BELM Surabaya of State-owned diversified miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam);
- Ahmad Purwanto, Supporting Staff at BELM Surabaya of PT Antam;
- Abdul Hadi Aviciena, General Manager at Pulogadung Precious Metal Processing and Refining Business Unit (UBPP LM) of PT Antam.
With the purchase of 100kg of gold, Budi paid Rp25.2 billion while in fact he should have only received 41.865kg of gold. Then the transaction continued by buying 7,071 kg of gold with the price of Rp3.5 trillion, but only received 5,935kg.
In this case, the prosecutor found alleged Budi’s conspiracy with several parties as mentioned above. Because of this, Budi was accused of causing harm to the state worth Rp1.165 trillion.
In addition, the panel of judges also read the verdict for another defendant Abdul Hadi Aviciena. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison and a fine of Rp500 million, subsidiary to 3 months in prison.
