https://jawawa.id/newsitem/sentenced-to-5-years-in-money-laundering-case-nurhadi-files-appeal-1775040666
Former Supreme Court Secretary Nurhadi has been sentenced to five years in prison in a case involving gratuities and money laundering (TPPU). Following the verdict at the Corruption Court in Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday (1/4), Nurhadi made a sarcastic remark about “retribution”. “Well, we’ll see later, just wait and see whose retribution it will be,” Nurhadi said as he left the courtroom.
Nurhadi’s lawyer, Maqdir Ismail, confirmed that they would file an appeal. He described the judges’ decision as illogical and detrimental to the sense of justice. “We discussed it earlier, we will appeal. No matter what, a decision like this is not only unreasonable, but it wounds our conscience and justice,” Maqdir stated.
Maqdir also refuted the allegations that his client received fund transfers as stated in the prosecutors’ indictment. According to him, the proof process in the trial did not proceed properly because the panel of judges was deemed to rely too heavily on the public prosecutor’s indictment. “I see that it’s not just manipulative considerations. Many witnesses in the trial said they did not know Mr Nurhadi, and had never given money to him. However, that was considered true because it matched the indictment and the prosecutors’ demands,” Maqdir said.
He added that no witness mentioned Nurhadi’s son-in-law, Rezky Herbiyono, acting under Nurhadi’s control. According to him, a father-in-law cannot simply be held accountable for his son-in-law’s actions. “So in my opinion, this is a form of punishment for an innocent person. Because it was prosecuted by the KPK, it seems as if he is definitely guilty,” he said.
Previously, the panel of judges led by Fajar Kusuma Aji declared Nurhadi proven legally and convincingly guilty of receiving gratuities and committing TPPU. In the verdict, the judges imposed a prison sentence of five years.
In addition to the prison sentence, Nurhadi was also fined Rp500 million. If the fine is not paid, it will be replaced with imprisonment for 140 days. The judges also imposed an additional penalty in the form of restitution amounting to Rp137,159,183,940. If not paid, Nurhadi’s assets may be confiscated and auctioned. If the proceeds are still insufficient, the punishment will be replaced with a prison sentence of three years.
In their considerations, the judges revealed fund flows to Rezky Herbiyono’s accounts from several parties. The funds, among others, came from Hindria Kusuma, Bambang Harto Tjahjono, and PT Sukses Abadi Bersama totalling Rp11.03 billion. In addition, there were receipts of Rp12.79 billion from Dion Hardie and PT Sukses Expamet, as well as Rp2 billion from PT Freight Express Indonesia.
The judges also noted other receipts amounting to Rp12.4 billion as well as funds in the form of SGD358,000 exchanged through money changer PT Bali Inter by Calvin Pratama into approximately Rp3.47 billion. Furthermore, there were receipts of Rp87.68 billion, USD520,000, and SGD9,700 exchanged through money changer Goenadi Valasindo valued at around Rp7.76 billion. Overall, the total fund receipts deemed related to this case amounted to Rp137.1 billion.
The panel of judges assessed that the money was used for Nurhadi’s interests, both personally and together with Rezky. The judges also found a significant surge in financial transactions after Rezky married Nurhadi’s daughter, Rizqi Aulia Rahmi.
In its verdict, the judges stated that Nurhadi was proven to have committed money laundering by placing funds through several accounts in the names of other parties, including Rezky Herbiyono, Calvin Pratama, Soepriyo Waskita Adi, Yoga Dwi Hartiar, CV Herbiyono Indo Perkasa, and PT Herbiyono Energi Industri. The total funds placed amounted to Rp307,206,571,463 and USD50,000. The funds were then used to purchase assets in the form of land, buildings, and motor vehicles.
The judges also considered Nurhadi’s legitimate income from swiftlet nest farming business worth Rp66.9 billion. For his actions, Nurhadi was declared to have violated the provisions of the Corruption Eradication Law and the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering Crimes Law.
This verdict is lighter than the prosecutors’ demand, which previously sought a seven-year prison sentence for Nurhadi. This case is the second one involving Nurhadi, after he was previously convicted in a bribery and gratuities case related to case handling at the Supreme Court.
