Erick Thohir Fires Garuda Director for Smuggling Harley Davidson
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5 December 2019 18:15 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir said he will discharge president director of the national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, I Gusti Ngurah Askhara or Ari Askhara, over alleged smuggling of Harley Davidson motorcycle on the airline’s new aircraft, Airbus 1330-900 Neo.
“I will dismiss Garuda president director, but because it is a publicly listed company, there must be a process [of the dismissal],” said Erick at the Finance Ministry office, Thursday, December 5.
In addition to the dismissal, Erick said he will thoroughly investigate the case. “We will see whether there are other people involved in this case, which is not only a civil case but also a criminal one because it causes state loss,” he underlined. “When we want to enhance the image and performance of SOEs, but the internal people are not ready, this is what happens.”
Erick Thohir went on to say that he had received a report from the audit committee in which noting a witness’ statement that the high-end motorcycle allegedly belonged to Ari Askhara. Ari was said to have made an order to seek the classic bike since 2018. The purchase was made in April 2019.
As reports suggested, Harley Davidson and other goods were smuggled onboard Garuda’s new aircraft which also boarding the airline’s directors. The jet departed from France and arrived at Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF) at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on November 17.
CAESAR AKBAR | JONIANSYAH