Indonesia's flagship airline fired its CEO after he allegedly smuggled a Harley-Davidson motorbike into the country on one of its planes

Kompas TV/YouTube

A reassembled Harley-Davidson motorbike, which Garuda CEO Ari Askhara is accused of smuggling into the country onboard a plane, on display at an Indonesian Finance Ministry news conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

• The CEO of Garuda Indonesia, the country's national airline, has been accused of smuggling a Harley-Davidson motorbike and two Brompton foldable bikes from France to Jakarta last month.
• Ari Askhara allegedly snuck the bikes into the country via a non-commercial Airbus A330-900 plane, the state-run Antara news agency reported, citing Indonesian authorities.
• The bikes are worth up to $65,500 combined in the Indonesian market. Askhara is accused of evading up to $106,000 in taxes, Antara reported.
• Customs officials reported finding the disassembled Harley-Davidson motorbike and Brompton bikes on Tuesday, Antara reported.
• Askhara was fired on Thursday. The Indonesian government is also fining Garuda for not disclosing the bikes on its cargo manifest.
• Askhara has not publicly responded to the allegations, and Garuda did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Indonesia's flagship airline has fired its CEO over allegations he smuggled a Harley-Davidson motorbike into the country onboard one of the airline's new Airbus planes in an attempt to avoid paying customs taxes.

Ari Askhara, of Garuda Indonesia, is accused by Indonesian authorities of sneaking a classic motorbike and two Brompton foldable bikes into the country, the country's state-run Antara news agency reported, citing the transportation ministry.

The plane - a new Airbus A330-900 - had flown from Toulouse, France, to Jakarta on November 16, Antara reported. The jet had not been flying a commercial flight, and had only been flying Garuda executives and employees at the time, the news agency added.

Customs officials reported finding the disassembled Harley-Davidson motorbike and Brompton bikes on Tuesday, Antara reported.

Antara Foto/Hafidz Mubarak A via Reuters

The Harley-Davidson motorbike and Brompton bicycles on display at the Indonesian press conference.

Askhara was fired on Thursday, Reuters reported. Though it's not clear when he will officially leave the post, Indonesia's transportation minister has appointed Garuda CFO Fuad Rizal to act as interim CEO, local media outlets reported.

The Harley-Davidson motorbike costs between 200 million and 800 million Indonesian rupiah ($14,200 to $57,000), and one foldable Brompton bike is worth 50 million to 60 million rupiah ($3,500 to $4,250) in the Indonesian market, Antara reported.

Askhara is accused of avoiding up to 1.5 billion rupiah ($106,000) in customs duties, Antara added.

Askhara has not publicly responded to the allegations against him.

Kompas TV/YouTube

Askhara being followed by Indonesian journalists.

The Indonesian government is also fining Garuda an undisclosed amount over the allegations because the airline had "carried items without including them in the cargo list," Indonesian Transportation Minister Budi Karya said on Friday, according to Reuters.

Garuda has not responded to Business Insider's request for comment on the allegations and government fine.

The news comes as Garuda's finances face increased scrutiny by the Indonesian government. Last year, Indonesia's financial watchdog said that the airline had made accounting errors, the BBC reported.

The Indonesian government appointed Askhara as Garuda CEO in 2018, hoping that he would improve the airline's finances, CNN Indonesia reported. Garuda had recorded net losses for years, CNN Indonesia added.

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