Jakarta --ndash; Indonesia's state-owned enterprises minister has fired the head of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia for allegedly smuggling high-end motorcycle parts on the delivery flight from France of the airline's new Airbus A330-900 Neo aircraft.
"This is disappointing as we are trying to improve state-owned enterprises' performance and image. Therefore I am dismissing Garuda's president director," minister Erick Thohir said on Thursday.
According to the flight manifest, the plane was carrying 10 crew and 22 passengers, including chief executive Ari Askhara, when it arrived at Soekarno Hatta international airport in Banten, Indonesia on November 17.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the contraband items on board included spare parts of Harley Davidson motorcycles and Brompton folding bicycles. The smuggled items could have cost the state up to 1.5 billion rupiah (106,000 dollars), she said.
Thohir said the spare parts are believed to be owned by Ashkara, as he is thought to have transferred the money to a personal bank account of Garuda's finance manager in Amsterdam to make the purchases back in April.
The company's board must still approve Ashkara's firing.
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