Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – A court on Thursday sentenced two foreigners in absentia to 15 years of prison each for having looted Bank Century, while an order was issued to seize the overseas assets of their Indonesian co-owner, who is already behind bars.

The Central Jakarta District Court handed down the sentences to Hesham al Warraq, 52, a Saudi Arabian citizen, and Rafat Ali Rizvi, 50, of Britain.

"The two defendants are proven to have enriched themselves," presiding Judge Masrudin Nainggolan said. "The state loss according to the Supreme Audit Agency [BPK] amounts to Rp 3.1 trillion [$344 million]."

As co-owners of Bank Century, both were declared guilty of the "double criminality" of corruption and money-laundering, stealing from their own bank and benefiting from the government's bailout.

Both men – who were declared fugitives by the police last year – sold fraudulent bonds through Bank CIC International, Bank Pikko and Bank Danpac, which later merged to form Bank Century, which absorbed the financial burden. When the investors wanted payment on the bonds, Warraq and Rizvi put up Bank Century shares as collateral, leading to the bailout and resulting state losses.

"They were involved in a blatant conspiracy to perform fraudulent bank practices of bond trading in violation to the banking law, and then fled the legal proceedings," Masrudin said.

"The defendants must return Rp 3.1 trillion to the state within a month, or prosecutors will seize their personal assets". Any failure to repay would lead to an additional term of five years, he added.

In a surprising twist in the verdict, the panel also ordered the seizure of personal assets in foreign countries belonging to the third owner of Bank Century, Robert Tantular. Tantular was earlier convicted of bank fraud, jailed and fined Rp 50 billion.

The seizure covers four insurance policies in the name of Tantular's wife, Tan Chia Fang, and his investments in Jersey and Guernsey, tax havens in Britain. The amounts were not specified in the ruling.

Tantular has appeared in the trial several times as a witness. His liability, however, was also underscored in the verdict because as the major shareholder in Bank Century, "he and the two defendants signed the letter of commitment agreeing to repay the losses from the fraudulent bond trades," the panel said.

"This is robbery," said Triyanto, an attorney for Tantular. "This trial is being held against two other men, but not Tantular. And certainly his wife's insurance policies have nothing to do with this," the attorney said angrily shortly after the hearing.

Tantular, who was originally sentenced to a four-year jail term in 2009, is now serving nine years behind bars for bank fraud based on a ruling issued by the Supreme Court in May.

The panel also ordered the seizure of $155 million in the name of Telltop Holdings Limited kept in a Swiss bank, more than $130 million of Rizvi's funds in Hong Kong and around 20 bank accounts under the control of the two fugitives.

Prosecutor Victor Antonius, who had earlier demanded 20 years for the two defendants, said he would accept the verdict.