Govt, Tommy settle Paribas case

Abdul Khalik ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 03/28/2008 11:27 AM

The government and Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra have settled their civil case amicably, paving the way for Tommy to reclaim some Rp 550 billion (US$59.8 million) from the Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) Paribas, their lawyers said Thursday.

Under the out-of-court-settlement, Tommy, youngest son of late former president Soeharto, must pay the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) Rp 23 billion in rental fees for land used by his company PT Goro Batara Sakti.

Tommy must also acquit Bulog of having to pay him Rp 5 billion in compensation based on a verdict handed down February by the South Jakarta District Court.

The amicable settlement was reached on March 19 after Bulog decided to drop its appeal against the court ruling, its lawyer, Asfifudin, said.

"We have made a settlement so the appeal will not proceed," he said.

Tommy's lawyer, Elza Syarief, said the settlement showed his client did not wish to cause harm to any party.

"With good intentions, we agreed to settle the case. We declare the case closed," she said.

British authorities froze 36 million euros in Tommy's bank accounts based on a request by Indonesia's Attorney General's Office (AGO) that argued the money had been obtained through corruption.

To prove its argument, AGO and Bulog sued Tommy for corruption in a 1995 Bulog-Goro land-swap transaction that caused Rp 550 billion in state losses.

However, the South Jakarta District Court ruled in February that Bulog had no legal grounds in the case, and instead ordered the state agency to pay Rp 5 billion for damaging Tommy's reputation as a businessman.

The Bulog and AGO immediately announced they would appeal against the ruling.

Elza said following the settlement, Tommy would attempt to withdraw his money from BNP Paribas Guernsey.

Noted lawyer Frans Hendra Winarta, however, dismissed ideas the case had anything to do with the money in Guernsey, or that the settlement would automatically affect the bank's decision to release the money.

"As far as I know the case has nothing to do with the Guernsey case. The bank will not allow Tommy to have the money unless the government confirms the money belongs to him, and that it was not obtained through corrupt means," he told The Jakarta Post.

A lawyer representing the state in the case, Yoseph Suardi Sabda, said he was not aware of the settlement process, but said both sides had the right to settle without involving the third party.

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