Pekanbaru. Corruption fugitive Nader Thaher has been arrested after 19 years on the run, finally facing justice for a Rp 35.9 billion graft scandal that caused losses to state-owned Bank Mandiri, a prosecutor in Pekanbaru confirmed on Friday.

A joint team from the Attorney General's Office and the Riau Prosecutors' Office arrested Nader at an apartment in Ciracas, Bandung, on Thursday evening. He was subsequently flown to Riau on a commercial flight to begin serving his prison sentence.

The 2002 Corruption Case
Riau Chief Prosecutor Akmal Abbas said Nader had been wanted for a 2002 corruption case involving Bank Mandiri loans issued to his company for an oil rig supply project with Caltex Pacific Indonesia.

"Prosecutors have finally captured the longest-running fugitive I’ve ever known. My message to other fugitives: there is no place to hide. Sooner or later, you will be arrested," Akmal said.

Nader’s company, Siak Zamrud Pusaka, acted as the supplier in the transaction. However, Rp 35.9 billion in loans remained unpaid, leading to his conviction for corruption.

In 2006, a Pekanbaru district court sentenced him to 14 years in prison, a ruling later upheld by the Riau High Court, which reduced the sentence by half. During the lengthy appeal process, his detention period had to be extended multiple times.

Escape and Capture
On April 3, 2006, Nader was released from detention because the Supreme Court failed to issue an extension of his detention, allowing him to evade authorities.

On July 24, 2006, the Supreme Court reinstated his 14-year sentence, prompting prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant and place him on the wanted list.

Now 69 years old, Nader changed his identity and obtained a new ID card in an effort to avoid capture.

"When we first encountered him, there was some doubt because his identity had changed. He obtained a new ID in Cianjur in 2014, under the name H Tony, with a different birthdate," Akmal explained.

Authorities discovered that Nader frequently changed residences, including living abroad, to evade arrest.

"Eventually, we received intelligence that the convict had returned to Indonesia. Despite his changed appearance due to age, our investigation confirmed his identity," Akmal added.

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