JAKARTA - INDONESIAN prosecutors asked a corruption court on Wednesday to sentence a former central bank governor to eight years in jail in connection with a graft case involving payments to members of parliament.

Burhanuddin Abdullah, 60, is a suspect in the case concerning a foundation linked to Bank Indonesia.

The foundation, known as YPPI, was alleged to have paid about US$10 million (S$14.7 million) to members of parliament and to cover the cost of legal assistance for former senior officials from the central bank.

Abdullah has denied any wrongdoing.

Abdullah, whose term as governor ended in May, is one of the most senior officials to be charged with corruption in Indonesia.

'We want the judges to find Burhanuddin Abdullah guilty of corruption,' prosecutor Rudi Margono said.

The maximum sentence for corruption charges is life imprisonment.

The central bank has undergone a series of reforms following various probes in the past decade, particularly over its controversial role in lending billions of dollars in emergency funds to banks at the height of the 1997-98 financial crisis. -- REUTERS