Tommys Money and Two Ministers

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

The disputed case of the Rp425 billion owned by Tommy Suharto will be heard in the Guernsey District Court, Great Britain. The Indonesian government has prepared a stack of documents in order to prove that these funds were illegally obtained by means of corruption, collusion and nepotism, carried out by the youngest son of former President Suharto.

Tommy insists the money is his.

However, one point has escaped the publics notice: in 2004 Tommy withdrew Rp90 billion of his money from the London branch of Bank Paribas. The bank was willing to release the money because the Indonesian government had guaranteed that the money was not in dispute. Tommy had hired the Law Offices of Ihza & Ihzafounded by former Minister of Justice & Legal Affairs, Yusril Ihza Mahenderato handle the disbursement of the money. Was Yusril involved? And how far did Justice & Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaludin intervene in the case?

. tempo : 172852326952.

LAST week, two ministers suddenly found themselves in a bit of a predicament. One was Yusril Ihza Mahendra, the former Justice & Legal Affairs Minister, who is now the State Secretary. When Tempo met him twice at his office, last Friday, he didnt have much to say. In fact, hes been evading questions on the withdrawal of US$10 million belonging to Tommy Suharto, from the London branch of Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) Paribas Just ask the Justice

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