State-owned insurer PT Asuransi Jiwasraya’s ailments seem to have infected other insurers in the country as its investment mismanagement has also had an impact on privately owned insurer PT Asuransi Jiwa Adisarana Wanaartha (WanaArtha Life) and PT Kresna Life.

In a letter to its policyholders on Wednesday, WanaArtha Life president director Yanes Matulawata confirmed that the insurer’s securities accounts had been blocked by the Attorney’s General Office (AGO) in connection with the latter’s investigation into a corruption case pertaining to Jiwasraya's mismanagement.

The blocked accounts had disrupted the insurer’s payment of policyholders’ claims, he added.

“The management deeply understands the policyholders’ concerns and we apologize because we can’t fulfill the policyholders’ claims at this time following this unexpected event that is out of our control,” Yanes wrote in the letter.

Despite the incident, WanaArtha Life assured its policyholders that policies with the insurer were safe and that it was trying to handle the situation with the AGO, Financial Services Authority (OJK) and other relevant authorities to lift the block.

“We will gradually pay the policyholders’ claims in the next 14 working days after the block has been lifted by the authorities,” said Yanes.

The AGO last month instructed the OJK and the country’s bourse authorities to block 800 securities accounts as it investigated Jiwasraya’s investment mismanagement, which left the state-owned insurer unable to pay
Rp 16 trillion (US$1.67 billion) of its policyholders’ claims.

“We received an informal report on Jan. 21 saying that our securities accounts had been blocked,” Yanes said in the letter to policyholders. The insurer then informed the OJK and the Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI) about the report.

He went on to say that the insurer had tried to provide clarification to the AGO. The authorities then questioned one of the insurer’s board of directors as a witness in the Jiwasraya case.

Separately, the OJK has denied rumors that investment management firm PT Kresna Asset Management (KAM) and Kresna Life are under investigation by the AGO, saying the fund managers reported business as usual with no disruption linked to the high-profile Jiwasraya case, as speculated.

OJK public relations and logistics deputy commissioner Anto Prabowo said on Thursday that KAM and Kresna Life were going about their business as usual and were not connected to the case of ailing Asuransi Jiwasraya.

“They are not relevant to the AGO’s investigation of assets and accounts [in Jiwasraya],” he said in a statement to the press, referring to reports in the local media that KAM and Kresna Life’s securities account had been blocked due to the investigation.

Previously, several local media had reported that KAM and Kresna Life’s securities accounts had been blocked by the AGO as they were rumored to be relevant to Jiwasraya’s investment mismanagement case. Such reports emerged after KAM’s customers reportedly claimed that they were unable to redeem their mutual funds from the company.

However, KAM quickly dismissed the reports, saying that customers were indeed able to redeem their mutual funds. “We also stress that we are not connected to the Jiwasraya case,” the statement read.

Kresna Life, however, has yet to issue a statement on its rumored connection to the case.

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