Goldman Sachs International, the United Kingdom-based subsidiary of New York-based The Goldman Sachs Group, plans to appeal the South Jakarta District Court’s verdict favoring Indonesian tycoon Benny Tjokrosaputro over the alleged illegal sales of PT Hanson International shares, for which Benny sits as both a major shareholder and the president director
oldman Sachs International, the United Kingdom-based subsidiary of New York-based The Goldman Sachs Group, plans to appeal the South Jakarta District Court’s verdict favoring Indonesian tycoon Benny Tjokrosaputro over the alleged illegal sales of PT Hanson International shares, for which Benny sits as both a major shareholder and the president director.
The district court partially approved Benny’s lawsuit on Tuesday, stating that Goldman must return Hanson’s shares to Benny. Goldman also had to pay Rp 320.88 billion (US$23.7 million) as a penalty to Benny due to material damage.
Harjon Sinaga, a lawyer from the Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo law firm, which represents Goldman, said on Wednesday the appeal would soon be filed. According to Indonesian law, the appeal must be filed within 14 days of the decision.
“We will file the appeal within 14 days according to the law,” he told The Jakarta Post.
The case had lasted for 397 days in the district court, and the judges had summoned both sides at least 25 times.
Harjon said his client had obtained Hanson’s shares through official mechanisms in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and that the settlement was made by Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI) and Indonesia Stock Market Clearing House (KPEI).
“These facts made our client disappointed with the court’s decision,” he said.
The story began in 2014, when Benny allocated 425 million shares, which today would be 2.13 billion shares after the 1:5 stock split in August 2016, to New York-based hedge fund Platinum Partners LLC for a loan.
The deal was made under a repurchase agreement in which Benny could repurchase the 425 million shares after he repaid the loan.
In 2015, Goldman Sachs International bought the 425 million shares of Hanson from Platinum in February, March and December. Goldman bought the shares in the IDX negotiation market as a hedge for its derivatives.
Goldman was not aware of the repurchase deal between Benny and Platinum. The shares Goldman bought were previously under the name of Newrick Holdings Ltd., where Benny is a shareholder.
Platinum filed for bankruptcy in October 2016 after a series of investigations and raids by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Later, its founder, Mark Nordlicht, and six other executives were charged in a $1 billion fraud case by the US court in December 2016.
Goldman had begun to sell Hanson shares since early 2016, but when Benny learned about the transactions, he was forced stop the transactions. Currently, the shares are still frozen in Citibank NA as the custodian bank.
In September 2016, Benny filed a lawsuit with the South Jakarta District Court, suing Goldman Sachs International, Citibank NA and PT Ficomindo Buana Registrar as the shares administration company. The lawsuit file stated that Benny wanted Goldman’s transaction of Hanson shares to be canceled and the stock to be transferred back to him.
The lawsuit also stated that Benny had Rp 5.32 trillion in damages, consisting of Rp 320.88 billion in material damage and Rp 5 trillion immaterial damage.
Goldman was reported to file a $1 billion counter lawsuit with the South Jakarta District Court in January.
IDX corporate assessment director Samsul Hidayat said the bourse was currently discussing whether to summon Hanson’s management regarding this case.
“If there is an anomaly in the movement of the company’s share price, we will freeze the shares’ trading and we will summon the management to make clarification to the public,” he said.
On Wednesday’s trading session, Hanson’s share price closed at Rp 109 per share, up by 2.83 percent compared to Rp 106 per share in the previous day.
Samsul added that the case had not involved the company’s management and that it was only between Benny and Goldman.
Benny’s lawyer Lucas said if Goldman had had good intentions, it should have returned the shares immediately.
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