AGO to sue PT Timor's owners

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 04/28/2008 11:42 AM  |  National

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) will file a civil lawsuit against PT Timor Putra Nasional (TPN) shareholders after the company sold its assets to PT Vista Bella Pratama (VBP), a subsidiary company of the same group TPN belongs to.

"I will have the case file on my desk this coming Monday or Tuesday, and then we'll pass it on to the court," Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said Friday.

The allegation came up last year after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) found evidence both companies were subsidiaries of the Humpuss Group, a business firm owned by former president Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

According to the KPK, the sale cost the state around Rp 4 trillion (US$434 million).

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati then asked the AGO to pursue a civil case against the companies, saying the deal was illegal because the companies belonged to the same person.

Hendarman added both companies' shareholders would be indicted, but refused to specify whether Tommy would also be sued.

"The accused are the shareholders, including those who are involved in the handling of the sale."

"That's all I have to say. Everything will become clearer when prosecutors file their lawsuit and the public can see for themselves who the guilty parties are," Hendarman said.

Tommy's lawyer, O.C. Kaligis, could not be reached for comment Sunday.

On April 15, 2003, PT TPN sold its assets, worth Rp 4,576 trillion, to PT VBP for Rp 512 billion through the defunct Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (BPPN).

The BPPN confiscated PT TPN's assets because it could not pay its debts to the government.

PT TPN is the most recent company of Tommy's being investigated by the AGO in an effort to prevent him from withdrawing $46 million of allegedly ill-gotten money from the Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) Paribas in Guernsey, Britain.

Hendarman said in light of the May 2007 verdict of the Royal British Court in Guernsey, the government would file a civil lawsuit against Tommy in August to ascertain whether the money now kept in an account belonging to his Motorbike Corporation had come from the Timor Putra National car project, which he ran.

The Royal Court of Guernsey in its verdict accepted the government's requests to keep Tommy's assets frozen at BNP Paribas, as long as the Indonesian government provided evidence that Tommy was involved in a civil lawsuit. (anw)

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