Jakarta - Indonesia's anti-corruption court on Wednesday sentenced a former central bank governor to five years in prison for misappropriating millions of dollars in bank funds.

The court also ordered Burhanuddin Abdullah to pay a 250-million-rupiah (25,000-dollar) fine.

Abdullah was convicted of using a foundation linked to Bank Indonesia to pay bribes of about 10 million dollars to members of parliament deliberating amendments of the central bank law in 2004 and to cover the cost of legal assistance for former senior bank officials.

Abdullah, who was replaced in May after his five-year term as governor expired, was arrested in April by the country's Corruption Eradication Commission.

Two other senior central bank officials were also arrested in the case: legal affairs director Oey Hoeng Tiong and communications chief Rusli Simanjuntak.

Abdullah, 60, denied any wrongdoing and called the five-year sentence "unfair and unjust," vowing to appeal.

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

Indonesia ranks as one of the world's most corrupt countries. Over the past year, investigations by the graft commission have led to the arrests of several high-profile figures, including a top prosecutor and legislators.

Since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's anti-corruption campaign started, officials ranging from governors and former ministers have been jailed on graft charges.

But some critics argued that the anti-graft effort has failed to take on powerful vested interests. (dpa)