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Ticket agencies demand money from Adam Air management
The Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (PAPSI) on Tuesday filed embezzlement charges against Gustiono Kustianto, director of PT Global Transport Service (GTS)
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The Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (PAPSI) on Tuesday filed embezzlement charges against Gustiono Kustianto, director of PT Global Transport Service (GTS).
Gustiono is the former finance director of now-defunct PT Adam SkyConnection Airlines (Adam Air).
PAPSI chairman Slamet Santosa Wibowo said Adam Air still owed Rp 16 billion (US$1.72 million) to more than 1,000 travel agents in Indonesia.
He said this amount consisted of deposit fees paid to Adam Air, as well as refunds agents paid to passengers after the airline stopped flying in March this year.
"It's a serious matter. The airline's director, Adam Aditya Suherman, ensured me the company would pay back our deposit fees and refunds because it still had some Rp 25 billion in escrow with GTS," Wibowo said.
GTS, a subsidiary of Bhakti Investama, owns a 19 percent stake in Adam Air, with the Bright Star consortium holding a 31 percent stake. The airline's founders, Suherman and Sandra Ang, own the remaining 50 percent.
Wibowo said travel agents needed the signatures of both Suherman and Gustiono to cash their checks at Bank Mandiri, but Gustiono was unwilling to comply.
Adam Air was declared bankrupt by the Central Jakarta commerce court on June 9.
"Suherman also said the Rp 25 billion account was in Bank Mandiri, while the commerce court only discussed the Bank BRI and BCA accounts," Wibowo said.
He added Suherman had told him Adam Air would appeal the bankruptcy verdict to the Supreme Court.
Gustiono, however, said he was unaware of the appeal, and denied the existence of the escrow account, saying all the money was held by Adam Air.
"Obviously I don't want Adam Air declared bankrupt, but I don't know about the jurisdiction plan," he said.
He said the agencies should have their demands processed by an auditor because the company was technically bankrupt.
"They asked me to cosign checks issued by Suherman, but this is impossible because the Rp 25 billion account is currently being held by police as evidence in an ongoing investigation," he said.
On March 26, Gustiono filed charges against executives of Adam Air for allegedly mismanaging company funds, causing losses of more than Rp 157 billion and violating flight safety standards, which resulted in several high-profile accidents.(JP/ind)
