Boediono starts hunt for Century’s assets

Jakarta: Vice President Boediono is heading up a team tasked with recovering the assets of Bank Century, which are stored overseas.

The team, which was established under a presidential regulation issued last month, consists of Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin, State Secretary Minister Sudi Silalahi, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo and Attorney General Basrief Arief.

“We are still collecting information before listing steps that may be required to recover the assets. We have intensified talks under the coordination of the Vice President,” Sudi said over the weekend.

Bank Century, which has been renamed Bank Mutiara, received financial assistance from the government in 2008 totaling Rp 6.76 trillion (US$757.12 million).

Bank Century’s poor financial condition, which at the time the government claimed could lead to a systematic banking collapse if not helped, was said to be “intentionally made”. One of the causes was the transfer of the bank’s assets overseas by its owners, Robert Tantular, who has been found guilty of bank fraud and corruption, as well as Saudi national Hesyam Al Warraq Thalat and British citizen Rafat Ali Rizvi.