T

he Indonesian government said that the efforts to recover Bank Century assets overseas had hit a stumbling block as legal authorities in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore declined to recognize the Jakarta court’s ruling, which declared the assets were stolen.

Members of the government’s team tasked to recover the assets of Bank Century, including Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin, State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo and Attorney General Basrief Arief, told the House of Representatives’ team overseeing the Bank Century bailout on Wednesday that legal authorities in Hong Kong and Switzerland required an assets seizure warrant before they would allow the Indonesian government to repatriate the assets.

“The authority in Hong Kong said that the Central Jakarta District Court ruling made no mention of asset recovery. The government of Switzerland thought the ruling didn’t refer to any specific crime but only a problem of state administration,” said Deputy Attorney General Darmono, speaking on behalf of Basrief.

To deal with the new problem, Darmono said that the government had set up a new team, led by Law and Human Rights Deputy Minister Denny Indrayana, to compile legal documents from the court proceedings on the bailout and redraft them to comply with the MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement) that the Indonesian government had signed with the governments of the three countries.

“We will also dispatch the team to meet with Hong Kong and Swiss authorities in the near future to settle the differences. By doing so, we hope that both countries will soon recognize the Central Jakarta District Court ruling and give way to the recovery of all assets kept in their countries,” Darmono said.

Last year, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Saudi Arabian national Hesham al Warraq and British citizen Rafat Alo Rifzi, former Bank Century owners, in absentia to 15 years in prison and Rp 3.1 trillion (US$328.6 million) fines for numerous counts of bank fraud that led to financial difficulties prior to the Bank Century bailout.

According to the National Police in April last year, both individuals had stashed at least US$133 million of the bank’s assets in a Hong Kong bank.

Some of the bank’s assets were also kept at different banks in Singapore and the United Kingdom.

The government found that Bank Century assets kept in Hong Kong banks included Rp 86 billion in cash and Rp 3 trillion in securities.

Meanwhile, another US$155,991,670 of the bank’s assets were kept at the Dresdner Bank (now LGT Bank) in Switzerland, US$24 million in Singapore, and US$18.44 million in the United Kingdom.

Amir, meanwhile said that three groups in Hong Kong had emerged and claimed ownership over the assets of Bank Century, and challenged the government’s efforts to recovering the funds.

“They alleged that corrupt National Police and Attorney General personnel were responsible for the court and deemed the court’s ruling illegitimate. The court in Hong Kong has actually thrown out their suit, but they filed an appeal. I learned that they are now taking further legal actions to fight back. We now have our legal representatives in Hong Kong doing work for us on the issue. We have prepared everything,” Amir said, declining to disclose further details.

He said that the Indonesian government needed to get the support of legal authorities in Hong Kong and Switzerland and authorities in Singapore and the Bahamas would follow.

“We will prioritize Hong Kong because the progress [of our efforts] there is more significant than in other countries,” he said.

Responding to the government’s claim, head of the House’s supervisory team for the Century bailout, Priyo Budi Santoso, called on the government to double its asset recovery efforts.

“We want the government to move faster. It must focus on Hong Kong because the country’s Department of Justice [DOJ] has expressed willingness to cooperate. This is different from the attitude of the Swiss authorities, who rejected the ruling [issued by the Central Jakarta District Court],” he said.

Priyo said that outside interference could have played a role in the Swiss government’s decision. “I suspect that the World Bank played a role here. Nonetheless, the government must continue to recover the bank’s assets there,” Priyo said.

Bank Century’s assets

• Hong Kong
 Rp 86 million in cash, Rp 3 trillion in securities (US$388.8 million, 650.6m in Singapore dollars)