Jakarta. The Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, announced on Thursday it has dropped the protracted bailout graft case against business tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim and his wife Itjih Nursalim in a landmark decision.

It’s for the first time for the KPK to terminate a corruption case in the commission’s history.

“We would like to announce today the termination of corruption investigation involving SN and ISN as suspects,” KPK Deputy Chairman Alexander Marwata said in a press conference at his office in South Jakarta, identifying the couple by their initials.

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The decision was taken to ensure “legal certainty” after years of fruitless attempts to build a strong case, the official said.

The case stemmed from a massive government bailout to ailing banks to prevent the country’s financial system from collapsing in the wake of the 1998 Asian financial crisis, when the value of the rupiah fell sharply against the dollar, severely affecting most lenders’ ability to repay their dollar-denominated debt.

Much of the bailout, known as the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance or BLBI, was misused by the bank owners to finance other businesses and they eventually failed to repay the debts.

Sjamsul’s Bank Dagang Negara Indonesia (BDNI) was among the major recipients of the government’s Rp 144.5-trillion bailout scheme.