Former Garuda chief Emirsyah Satar reportedly handed 8-year jail sentence for bribery

Garuda Indonesia's former chief executive Emirsyah Satar has been handed an eight-year jail sentence and served a US$1.4 million fine for bribery and money laundering activities concerning the attainment of planes and engines from Airbus and Rolls-Royce, reported Reuters who quoted Satar's lawyer. 

The former airline chief, who led Garuda from 2005 to 2014, was charged by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for payments from a businessman through a third party. According to Reuters, the payments were for Roll-Royce Trent 700 engines and Airbus A320 and A330 planes to be used by Garuda. The indictment also concerned the attainment of Airbus plans for Citilink Indonesia, a unit under Garuda. 

Indonesia's anti-corruption agency began investigating Satar in 2017 for bribery. Multiple media reports quoted KPK previously saying that Satar was suspected of taking bribes related to activities of purchasing planes and machines from Rolls-Royce. That same year, Rolls-Royce also paid authorities over US$800 million for bribing officials in Thailand, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Angola and Iraq more than US$35 million, Reuters reported. The bribes were meant to secure contracts and lasted more than a decade.  Last year, the airline reviewed its business practices after former CEO Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra, also known as Ari Askhara, attempted to smuggle a Harley-Davidson motorcycle on a flight.

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