People
Garuda boss accused of smuggling motorbike parts on delivery flight from France
December 6th 2019
At press time, Garuda Indonesia president, Air Askhara, was being threatened with dismissal after he was accused of smuggling disassembled Harley Davidson motor bike parts and also Brompton folding bicycles into Indonesia aboard an A330-900 November delivery flight from Toulouse. Read More » The parts were not declared as required to the country’s department of customs and excise.
State-owned Enterprises minister, Eric Thohir, said on December 5: “I will dismiss the Garuda president director and the process will be in accordance with regulated procedures,” he told a press conference in Jakarta.
The Jakarta Post said because the flag carrier was a publicly listed company, Garuda would need to hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to vote on the sacking of the airline’s boss.
“It won’t end there,” Erick said. “We also will look further to determine if any other people are implicated in the case. We will process this thoroughly as the case caused state losses.”
Erick alleged the motor bike was allegedly owned by Ari because the airline boss had instructed staff in 2018 to find him a classic motor bike. Erik revealed to media the transaction was carried out in April via a bank transfer to the account of Garuda’s financial manager in Amsterdam.
Earlier in the week, a Garuda spokesman said the undeclared cargo belonged to several airline employees who were on the flight. The goods had been seized by customs and excise officials, the spokesman said.
Ari has been Garuda’s president director since September 2018. He replaced Pahala Mansury, who only lasted 18 months in the job. Ari was CFO of the airline from the end of 2014 to April 2016. He spent the interim period before he returned to Garuda as CEO of Indonesia’s state-owned sea port authority.
