T

rade Minister Gita Wirjawan says that he has cut his ties with PT Ancora Land, a firm reportedly involved in the contentious Rp 6.7 trillion (US$689 million) bailout of Bank Century in 2008.

“I have no ownership of Ancora Land,” Gita told a House of Representatives committee overseeing the Century probe during a hearing on Wednesday. “I have delegated my stake in the company to professionals at the Ancora Group after I joined the Cabinet.”

Gita co-founded the Ancora Group, which is now led by his brother Rianto Ahmadi.

The House committee previously said that it suspected Gita of being involved in the bailout since he had a stake in Ancora Group subsidiary PT Ancora Land, which acquired PT Graha Nusa Utama (GNU) in 2010.

GNU was one of several companies that received bailout money from the now-defunct PT Antaboga Sekuritas, an investment firm managed by top executives of Bank Century, which has since been renamed Bank Mutiara.

The National Police previously told the committee that Rp 141 billion had been transferred from Antaboga to PT GNU, whose president, Totok Kuncoro, was slapped with a five year sentence by the Central Jakarta District Court in December for money laundering.

Totok was convicted of receiving stolen bailout money from Antaboga and former Bank Century owner Robert Tantular, who was sentenced to a four year jail term in 2009. The Supreme Court later increased his sentence to 9 years imprisonment.

Totok, who was also summoned to the hearing, said that he had accepted Rp 118 billion in loans from Robert, claiming that he did not know the money came from Bank Century. Totok also said that PT GTU had sold a 51 percent stake in the firm worth Rp 5.1 billion to Ancora.

“I had no idea of the status of Bank Century when I arranged the deal with Robert Tantular,” Totok said. “My business with him was personal in nature. This is why I objected to the court’s ruling and filed an appeal, which is still ongoing process.

Meanwhile, Gita said that Ancora’s acquisition of PT GNU was legal. “We performed due diligence prior to our decision to acquire the company to make sure that it was in good condition. I am confident to say that PT GNU has nothing to do with Bank Century bailout scandal.”

However, the lawmakers were not satisfied with the explanation, saying that they would summon the police and representatives of the Attorney General’s Office next week.

“There is something fishy here,” House Deputy Speaker Taufik Kurniawan said. “We will ask for clarification from law enforcers on the matter in our effort to recover Bank Century assets that have been scattered here and there,”

Members of the committee previously announced plans to step up their investigation of Bank Century after meeting with former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, who claimed to have new information about the questions surrounding the bailout.

The bailout has been a politically charged issue and has long been used by rival politicians to attack President Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono’s administration.