Jakarta, Suara Indonesia News - The legal battle between Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati
and Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, son of late former president
Soeharto, over a massive sum of money looks likely to spiral
with no end in sight.
After Tommy recently won a round over iron lady Mulyani through
a Supreme Court ruling in his favor, Mulyani is hitting back
with a vow to file for judicial review of the case as a last
resort.
The Finance Ministry said it would file for a review of the
Supreme Court ruling that Tommy could claim the Rp 1.23 trillion
(US$130.12 million) recently seized by Mulyani from a Bank
Mandiri account.
"We are sure the money belongs to the state. We will file for
the review as we still have some time to do so," Finance
Ministry director general of the state treasury, Hadiyanto, said
Tuesday.
He said he believed the Attorney General's Office would take
immediate steps to prepare for the review to reclaim the money,
said to belong to taxpayers as Tommy had allegedly acquired it
illegally through his company PT Timor Putra Nasional.
The ministry has 120 days to file the review after the Supreme
Court handed down its verdict on Aug. 22. The court ruled in
Tommy's favor based on the argument the Finance Ministry's
directorate general of taxation had unfrozen the Mandiri account
in 2005. The verdict was handed down by a panel of judges led by Paulus
Effendi Lotulung, who had issued two other verdicts in favor of
Tommy in unrelated cases. Other judges were Titik Nurmala
Siagian, Widayatmo Sastro, Marlina Sidabutar and Ahmad Sukardja.
On Aug. 28, Mulyani ordered state-controlled Bank Mandiri to
transfer the money to the ministry's account to be used for
financing development. The amount is estimated to be equivalent
to the cost of building at least 1,800 primary schools.
Tommy's lawyer O.C. Kaligis said the ministry had committed
"robbery" by confiscating the money despite the verdict in
Tommy's favor.
The dispute over the money started when Tommy's automotive
company Timor relinquished its assets to the now defunct
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) in 1999 as a
guarantee for its Rp 4.57 trillion debt to the state.
In April 2003, the IBRA sold the assets to PT Vista Bella
Pratama for just Rp 512 million.
But the assets excluded the Rp 1.23 trillion deposited by Timor,
which failed to declare the deposit among its assets.
The money then became the subject of a legal dispute between the
government and Vista Bella, which was later identified by the
Corruption Eradication Commission as being affiliated with Timor.
The AGO, representing the Finance Ministry, filed in June a
civil lawsuit against Tommy on charges the sale of Timor to
Bella Vista was illegal, as the company remained under the same
ownership.
"According to the sales and purchases agreement, if parties are
affiliated with one another, the transaction must be canceled,"
Mulyani said earlier.
"The seizure of the Rp 1.23 trillion is just part of our effort
to cut the losses from the transaction."
The deposit was not among the assets sold to Vista Bella, she
added.
Mulyani's latest action is part of a series of attempts by the
government to reclaim Tommy's allegedly ill-gotten money.
Tommy was convicted of killing Supreme Court judge Syafiuddin
Kartasasmita in 2001. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for
the crime, but was released last year.
sidebar: Ongoing dispute over Timor's assets
August 1995: Tommy Soeharto establishes PT Timor Putra Nasional
in cooperation with Kia Motors of South Korea.
June 1996: PT Timor is granted "national car producer" status
and given special tax breaks to import Kia cars.
August 1997: Timor receives loans worth US$690 million from a
syndicate of 16 national banks, with an annual lending rate of 3
percent and a maturity period of 10 years.
January 1998: Due to pressure from the International Monetary
Fund, then president Soeharto removes the national car status.
March 31, 1999: Timor is taken over by the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) for being unable to pay its debts.
April 2002: Mohammad Hartono and Chatarina Widayanti establish
general trading company PT Vista Bella Pratama.
March 12, 2003: Taufik Surya Darma and Alfian Sanjaya acquire
Vista Bella and use the firm as a special purpose vehicle to
acquire distressed corporations.
April 15, 2003: Vista Bella buys Timor's assets, worth Rp 4.5
trillion, for Rp 446 billion in a tender held by the IBRA. Firms
affiliated with Timor are barred from taking part in the tender.
April 2003: PT Mandala Buana Bhakti, on behalf of Vista Bella,
pays for Timor's assets through Bank Niaga.
June 30, 2003: Singapore-based Amazonas Finance Limited and
Wedingley Capital acquire Timor's assets from Vista Bella.
Amazonas then resells the assets to Global Auto Technology and
Humphrey International Ltd.
July-August 2004: The Supreme Court upholds Tommy's appeal to
cancel the decision by the directorate general of taxation to
confiscate Timor's assets.
January 2005-November 2006: Timor orders Bank Mandiri to
disburse its deposits. The bank rejects the order at the request
of then finance minister Jusuf Anwar. Timor challenges it
through the South Jakarta District Court, ultimately winning the
case.
November 29, 2007: The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
finds indications that Vista Bella is affiliated with Tommy and
Timor.
December 2007: The Jakarta High Court annuls the South Jakarta
District Court's verdict. Tommy appeals to the Supreme Court.
May 5, 2008: The government asks the South Jakarta District
Court to annul the sales and purchase agreements of Timor's
assets and asks Timor to pay its debts.
July 2008: The court asks the finance minister and Tommy to
settle the dispute amicably. Mediation fails.
August 22, 2008: The Supreme Court annuls the Jakarta High
Court's decision, which allowed the government to freeze Timor's
funds.
August 28, 2008: Bank Mandiri transfers Rp 1.2 trillion from
Timor's account into the government's account at the request of
the finance minister.
September 1, 2008: Tommy sends a letter to President Bambang
Susilo Yudhoyono protesting against the finance minister's. (RED)
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