The Dismissal Of The President Director Of Garuda Indonesia Due To Smuggling Of Harley And Brompton Bicycles

Press conference for smuggling of Harley Davidson and Brompton bicycle components on Garuda Indonesia aircraft (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

JAKARTA - BUMN Minister Erick Thohir immediately dismissed PT Garuda Indonesia President Director I Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra or Ari Askhara for smuggling Harley-Davidson components and Brompton bicycles. This decision was made after considering the results of the Audit Committee's examination.

"With that, I in the BUMN ministry will dismiss the President Director of Garuda," said Erick in a press conference at the Ministry of Finance Office, Central Jakarta, Thursday, December 5.

He explained that the audit committee had provided the results of the investigation of the discovery of a Harley Davidson and two Brompton bicycles on the Garuda Indonesia plane.

As a result, the audit committee said that the ShovelHead Harley Davidson motorbike was dominated by white and the red ornament actually belonged to Ari Ashkara or what Erick called with the initials AA.

"This motorbike was in the 70s. The purchase was made in April 2019. The transfer process was carried out in Jakarta to the personal account of the Garuda Indonesia Finance Manager in Amsterdam. Brother IJ helped take care of the delivery process and others," explained Erick.

Then, the delivery process is carried out via the Garuda Indonesia plane which will be sent to Indonesia. Before being superimposed on this plane, the motorcycle parts were removed first and put in a brown cardboard box.

BUMN Minister Erick Thohir and Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

In the future, the former INASGOC chairman will continue to investigate this case so that the people behind the smuggling of big motorbikes and folding bikes will not happen again.

He also said that not only would Ari be imposed with the dismissal of sanctions, but there were also other sanctions. "So it has become a factor, not only civil, but this criminal is burdensome," he said.

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, who was also present at the press conference, said that Ari's actions by smuggling one Harley Davidson Shovel Head and two Brompton bikes resulted in a state loss of Rp1.5 billion.

"The total state loss, potential or what would happen if the declaration was not made between Rp.532 million to Rp1.5 billion," said Sri Mulyani.

This is because a Harley Davidson unit costs around Rp. 800 million. As for the folding Brompton bike, the price is around IDR 50 million per unit.

Sri also said that no party should put up a body to hide the fact of ownership of the contraband. He suspects that currently there are parties who deliberately put up the body so that the original owner of the Harley Davidson motorbike and Brompton bike will not be sanctioned.

Moreover, from the findings of Customs and Excise officers, it was stated that there were two passengers whose names were written on the illegal Harley Davidson and Brompton claim tags, namely SAW and LS - whose real names were not named -

"It seems that the SAW concerned sets up a body and Article 103 of Customs states that those who provide incorrect oral and written statements to fulfill their customs obligations will be subject to consequences," said Sri.

He said that currently the investigation process was still being carried out by his party. Meanwhile, Customs and Excise have confiscated motorcycles and two folding bicycles.

Spare parts for Harley Davidson motorcycles and Brompton bikes (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

Previously, the scandal over the fake spare parts was uncovered by Customs and Excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang. Officers were checking a plane that had just landed from France and immediately entered the Garuda Indonesia Maintanance Facility Hangar 4 on 17 November.

During the inspection, 18 boxes with passenger luggage were found. This box was also not reported on flight GA9721, which was known to carry 22 VIP passengers and 10 cabin crew.

After being unloaded, the 18 boxes in the passenger trunk turned out to be containing large Harley Davidson motorbike spare parts, two packages containing Brompton bikes, and spare parts for the plane.