Former bank chief faces Indonesia's anti-corruption court

Updated June 26, 2008 08:12:33

Burhanuddin Abdullah has appeared in court facing charges of embezzlement. [Reuters]

The former governor of Indonesia's central bank has appeared in an anti-corruption court charged with embezzling $US11 million in bank funds.

Burhanuddin Abdullah was arrested in April by the Corruption Eradication Commission, which has launched a series of investigations targeting the central bank, customs and attorney general's offices.

Abdullah is alleged to have taken the bank's money to pay 31.5 billion rupiah to lawmakers deliberating amendments to the central bank law in 2004.

Two other senior bank officials, legal affairs director, Oey Hoeng Tiong, and communications chief, Rusli Simanjuntak, were detained in February as part of the investigation.

Indonesia ranks alongside Russia, Togo and Gambia at 143rd on Transparency International's global corruption perceptions index.