(12/8/2009)
NusaBali reports that the Denpasar District Court has sentenced Esti Yuliani (also known as Julie Edmond) 41, to two years imprisonment after finding her guilty of embezzling at least Rp. 25 billion (US$2.5 million) from her foreign clients whom she attended from the now defunct Kantor Kita operation in Bali's Sanur district.
The presiding judge at the trial, Nyoman Sutama, handed down a sentence that was one year less than the three years sought by public prosecutors.
The former owner of PT Kantor Kita was found guilty of violating 378 KUHP - the criminal statute for criminal fraud that carries a maximum penalty of four years.
The judge ruled that based on the corroborating nature of the testimony given by former clients of Yuliani - including H. Don Worthington, Lucky Christian Pua and Mark Vernon Tuck; the testimony rendered directly by Yuliani; and documentary evidence presented to the court he was convinced of the woman's guilt.
Repeating her behavior exhibited at past court sessions, Yuliani began the sentencing phase of her trial by again proclaiming her innocence and asking the judge to release her.
Ignoring her pleas, the judge said he could find no mitigating evidence that might excuse Esti Yuliani's actions. In considering a suitable sentence the judge cited the substantial losses suffered by the defendant's clients as the result of her criminal acts.
During the course of the trail, it was revealed how Esti Yuliani misrepresented herself as a practicing attorney in the rental of a 10 hectare parcel of land and enticed her victims to entrust Rp. 25 billion to her "safekeeping."
The Public Prosecutor in the case, Agung Kusumayasa, expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that the judge rendered a sentence one year less than he had requested from the court.
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