Jakarta. A Jakarta court on Friday sentenced business tycoon Budi Said to 15 years in prison and imposed a massive financial penalty after he was found guilty of fraud involving gold purchases from state-owned supplier Aneka Tambang (Antam).

The court also ordered Budi to return Rp 35 billion ($2.15 million) to the state to compensate for losses incurred by Antam. Failure to pay the penalty within a month of the verdict becoming final will result in an additional eight years of imprisonment.

Presiding Judge Tony Irfan said Budi was convincingly proven guilty of corruption and money laundering in a conspiracy with Antam employees.

The Surabaya-based businessman purchased 100 kilograms of gold bars from Antam in 2018 for just Rp 25.2 billion, with the help of insiders. Based on the market price at the time, the sum should have only secured him 41.86 kilograms of gold, the court heard.

The Rp 35 billion compensation represents the loss of 58.14 kilograms of gold from the fraudulent transactions, Judge Tony explained.

"If the defendant fails to repay within a month after the verdict is declared final and binding, his assets shall be seized to recover the loss. If the asset value is insufficient, his prison term will be extended by another eight years," the judge added.

Co-Conspirators and Background
The same court sentenced former Antam general manager Abdul Hadi Aviciena to four years in prison for facilitating the fraudulent transactions.

Budi had unlawfully received a steep discount on the gold purchase through Antam insiders. Following the initial transaction, he expanded his purchases to a total of 7 tons of Antam gold. However, he only received 6.9 tons of gold at market price, prompting him to sue Antam.

The case gained public attention in August 2022 when the Supreme Court ruled in Budi’s favor, ordering Antam to pay him Rp 817 billion to compensate for the undelivered gold. Budi claimed he had fully paid the agreed price through 73 bank transfers, but Antam denied ever offering the discounts Budi claimed.

Antam maintained that it had delivered all the gold according to the official price at the time of the transactions.

The controversial legal battle, which resulted in significant financial losses for the state, prompted prosecutors to launch a criminal investigation against Budi. Prosecutors previously recommended 15 years' imprisonment and a Rp 1 trillion penalty for Budi.