Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra’s Garnet investment company is set to recover 36 million euro

in overseas bank savings after recently winning a court battle against the Indonesian government.

Tommy’s lawyer O.C. Kaligis said Wednesday the London Guernsey High Court’s verdict would prevent the Indonesian government from attempting a new tactic to seize the money, which is being stored at the Guernsey branch of the Banc National de Paris (BNP) Paribas.

Legal expert Ahmad Syarifuddin Natabaya said the government barely stood a chance of contesting the verdict due to the differing legal systems in Indonesia and the UK.

Ahmad said the defeat highlighted the incapability of the Attorney General’s Offi ce (AGO) to collect evidence linking the money to a corruption case implicating Tommy back in Indonesian.

“One thing is for sure, the government’s lawyers have failed to convince the panel of judges in the UK. This leads to the question of whether or not the government is taking this case seriously,” said Ahmad, a former Constitutional Court judge.

This defeat for the Indonesian government was the fourth court battle between Tommy and the

government in the past year, all of which have been won by the youngest son of former  president Soeharto.

The AGO dropped its investigation into alleged corruption at BPPC, a national clove cartel controlled by Tommy in 1990s, in September last year. The AGO said the BPPC had paid Rp 759 billion in compensation.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji has insisted the government will appeal or seek a review of the case, or file a new lawsuit to regain control of the money.

Assistant attorney general for state administrative affairs Edwin Pamimpin Situmorang said

Wednesday the government would exhaust every possible measure to keep Tommy from acquiring the money.

However Edwin acknowledged the government was facing an uphill challenge to win over the

judges’ favor.

“If the British legal procedure allows Garnet to cash out the fund anytime soon, then there isn’t

much that can be done about it,” Edwin said.

In order to be able to file a casereview, the government has to gather new evidence substantial

enough to change the court’s ruling.

Even still, Indonesia’s move to file a new lawsuit will not require the Guernsey court to reverse

their decision.

“All we have to do right now is explore all options that will help us seize back the money for the benefi t of the country,” Edwin said.

Kaligis said the court’s verdict temporarily setback the government.

“The Guernsey court previously rejected the government’s bid to file an appeal to the Privy Council (British Supreme Court) in London,” Kaligis said.

He added the court deemed the evidence presented by the government’s lawyer as “inaccurate and imprecise”.

Popular

The fragile promise of pluralism, religious freedom in Southeast Asia

Coffee, gold push up inflation to 1.95 percent in April

Power begins to return after outage in Indonesia's Bali island