Tommy's Funds in Guernsey Suspected to be from Corruption
Thursday, 11 January, 2007 | 13:50 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Attorney General's Office (AGO) suspects that the funds belonging to Hutomo Mandala Putra a.k.a. Tommy Suharto deposited at the Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) and Paribas are funds from corruption.

Now the AGO is collecting evidence to file an intervention suit, to be proposed in a trial in Guernsey—part of the British Commonwealth—on January 22.

“The claim is order to make sure whether there are measures classified as corruption,” said Yoseph Suardi Sabda, Civil Director and a Deputy Attorney for Civil and State Administration, when contacted by Tempo yesterday (10/1).

According to Yoseph, the corruption indication can be seen from the State Enterprises Ministry and the Finance Department's data.

The data, he said, is to confirm whether Tommy still has debt or tax arrears.

The data will then be matched with the total of funds Tommy owns in BNP and Paribas.

Yoseph said, if there the times and amounts of the tax arrears data plus Tommy's debt and the funds in BNP and Paribas in July 1998 match, then corruption is confirmed.

“If there was corruption, this can be known from the date Tommy opened accounts,” he said.

The case started with Tommy's suit against BNP and Paribas.

Tommy questioned the cancellation of a 36 million Euro (around Rp300 billion) transfer to Garnet Investment Limited company in Guernsey, in which Tommy has the shares.

BNP was reluctant to disburse the funds because Tommy was recorded as having legal problem in Indonesia.

Yoseph is targeting that the collecting of data and information to be brought to England can be completed a week before the trial on January 22.

According to him, there are three reasons why the state has proposed this intervention suit.

These include: if Tommy was involved in alleged corruption, the funds can be directly taken by the state; and Tommy is suspected to have debts to State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) and the government.

Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh is certain that the intervention suit can be successful.

“We have to be certain, though the court will decide it,” said Abdul Rahman when contacted.

According to him, the intervention is being carried out because Tommy has legal problems at the AGO, which will appoint a lawyer in Guernsey to cooperate in the intervention suit trial.

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