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Reliance maintains innocence in Larasati case
Reliance Securities Tbk, which has been dragged into a case surrounding fictional government bond sales, has maintained its innocence and claims that the company’s name was exploited by its former broker EP Larasati.
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Reliance spokesperson Joko Yunianto (left), director Esterlita Widjaja (second left), director Anak Agung Gde Arinta Kameswara (second right) and president director Jurgantara Usman hold a press conference after an extraordinary general meeting in Jakarta on May 2. (thejakartapost.com/Anton Hermansyah)
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span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Reliance Securities Tbk, which has been dragged into a case surrounding fictional government bond sales, has maintained its innocence and claims that the company’s name has been exploited by former broker, EP Larasati.
Reliance president director Jurgantara Usman said Larasati's working contract was terminated in April 2014 as recorded in the corporate tax filing, with the latest payment of Larasati's income tax on May 2014.
However, he further said, Larasati continued using Reliance’s name to sell wealth management contracts to her victims and even forged the signature of the company’s president director. In fact, Reliance never had a wealth management division.
"After May 2014, the company did not pay Larasati's income tax anymore [..] Reliance’s name was used in the letterhead, and the signature was fake," Jurgantara told thejakartapost.com after an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Thursday in Jakarta.
He added that Larasati also sold her victims a fake government bond series FR0035 through Danareksa Privilege.
However, Danareksa denied to have any subsidiary and division under such name. Since November 3, 2015, the state-owned brokerage firm had warned its clients to be careful with investment offerings using SR35 or FR0035 as the underlying assets.
According to Reliance Securities director Anak Agung Gde Arinta Kameswara, the government bond FR0035 was actually not available for individual investors, but was aimed mainly at corporate investors, such as insurance companies and pension funds.
"If you want to sell government bond for retailers, sell ORI [Indonesian Government Retail Bond]. Most of the FR0035 bonds are offered to the Health Care and Social Security Agency [BPJS]," Agung said.
Reliance also insisted that it had informed its clients to be vigilant against any fake bond sales. According to Agung, Reliance educates its customers to make them aware of dubious investments.
"Our customers are educated; they know that there are no retail products with fantastic returns. We also teach them to confirm the underlying structures of the bond before purchasing," Agung said. (ags)
