Former Minister Jero Gets Four Years for Embezzlement

Jakarta Globe, February 09, 2016

Jero Wacik was found guilty of corruption during both his time as tourism
minister and as energy minister. (Antara Photo/M. Agung Rajasa)

Jakarta. The Jakarta Anti Corruption Court sentenced former minister and Democratic Party politician Jero Wacik to four years in prison on Tuesday (09/02) for two separate embezzlement cases during his time as the country's tourism minister and later as energy minister.

The court, presided over by Judge Sumpeno, also ordered to Jero pay a fine of Rp 150 million ($11,000) and return Rp 5 billion in state losses or face an additional year in prison.

The sentence is far from the nine years imprisonment, Rp 350 million in fines and Rp 18.79 billion in compensation that the prosecution had earlier demanded, despite Jero becoming one of the few people to be found guilty of corruption in two separate public posts.

Judge Sumpeno argued that Jero's cancer-stricken wife Trisna Wacik is gravely ill and Jero "still has to pay for his daughters' college tuition," when he explained the court's decision to not meet the prosecution's demand.

Sumpeno also instructed the Corruption Eradication Commission, also known as the KPK, to unfreeze bank accounts belonging to Jero's wife and one of his daughters, Sagita Sinta Pratiwi, saying that they were not related to the crime.

The court ruled that Jero had embezzled Rp 7 billion in operational funds for personal expenses during his time as tourism minister from 2008 to 2011 and another Rp 1 billion during his time as energy minister from 2011 to 2014.

The funds, meant to cover expenses related to his roles as ministers, were instead used to buy concert tickets for his daughters, designer handbags for his wife and to pay for Jero's weekly trips to massage parlors, among other expenses.

He was also found guilty of bilking energy companies out of Rp 10 billion in kickbacks while serving as energy minister.

Both sides can still lodge an appeal.