AGO files lawsuit against Tommy and 4 companies

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 05/06/2008 12:35 AM  |  Headlines

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) filed a civil lawsuit Monday against Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra on charges the recent sale of his automotive company was illegal.

The AGO said PT Vista Bella Pratama (VBP) purchased automotive company PT Timor Putra National (TPN) with money coming from a subsidiary belonging to the same business group as the car maker.

AGO civil law director Dachmer Munthe, who filed the lawsuit at the Central Jakarta District Court, said that on behalf of the Finance Minister the AGO was suing Tommy and four companies involved in the purchase.

"The sale has caused the state Rp 4.045 trillion (US$440 million) in losses. We demand the defendants pay restitution," he said.

In the lawsuit, the AGO accuses VBP, TPN, PT Mandala Buana Bakti (MBB), and PT Humpuss of violating a 2000 decision by the Policy Committee for the Financial Sector and the Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (BPPN) that forbids any sale of BPPN assets involving parties with similar financial interests.

In April 2003, TPN sold its assets, worth Rp 4.5 trillion, to VBP for Rp 512 million through the now defunct BPPN, which had confiscated TPN's assets for failure to pay its debts to the government.

However, Dachmer said, it was found out later that VBP had received its money from MBB, whose board of directors led Humpuss, which is also owned by Tommy.

"We have documents like letters and transfer receipts, sent back and forth between these companies, as strong evidence that the purchase is illegal. I believe we can win this case," he said.

He also said that in May 2003 VBP sold TPN assets to the British Virgin Island-based company Amazonas Finance Limited. Dachmer said that if the court found the defendants guilty, Amazonas would have to obey any decision regarding the assets.

TPN is the most recent company of Tommy's to be investigated by the AGO in efforts to prevent the youngest son of former president Soeharto from withdrawing $46 million of allegedly ill-gotten money from the Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) Paribas in Guernsey, Britain.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said last month the AGO would file another lawsuit against Tommy in August to ascertain whether the money now kept in another account belonging to his Motorbike Corporation had come from TPN's car project, which Tommy ran.

The Royal Court of Guernsey ruled last year to accept a request to keep Tommy's assets frozen at BNP Paribas as long as the Indonesian government provided evidence he was involved in a civil lawsuit. (dre)

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