Bambang says family unfazed by legal maneuvers

JAKARTA (JP): The second son of former president Soeharto, Bambang Trihatmodjo, said on Saturday that he and his family would be ready to face legal prosecution in connection with the ongoing investigation into his family's wealth.

"I do not feel that I've made mistakes. And I'm not a thief, either," Bambang said after the closing ceremony of a two-day meeting of the Armed Forces Big Family (KBA) at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah recreational park in East Jakarta.

"So why should I hide and be afraid of the ongoing investigation into my father's and my family's wealth?" he said in response to questions about his relatively frequent public appearances despite the attention his father is receiving over alleged wrongdoings.

Bambang is the only Soeharto family member who has frequently appeared in public since his father's resignation on May 21.

Meanwhile, his father has made routine visits to a few mosques for Friday prayers. Soeharto has been seen praying at a mosque in Bambang's business headquarters, the Bimantara Group building, in Central Jakarta in the past few weeks.

Asked about the police's ongoing investigation into an alleged scam at his liquidated bank, Bank Andromeda, Bambang said he had not received any police summons in connection to his bank.

National Police chief detective, Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, said on Thursday that police had arrested Nico Mailangkay and Ismandito, Bank Andromeda directors, and requested another director, Megawati W. Liem, to routinely report her whereabouts to the police. Da'i, however, did not say when Bambang was scheduled to testify in connection to the case.

Speaking about a planned cooperation between the Attorney General's Office and the Swiss government to search for state assets which may have been stashed in Swiss banks during Soeharto's 32-year rule, Bambang said the investigation should continue.

"Bapak (Soeharto) has said that anybody should feel free to report their findings to the authorities if they find my father has any savings or accounts abroad," he said. He added Soeharto was ready to sign anything but did not elaborate.

He, however, reiterated his earlier statement in support of his father's denial that Soeharto did not have any money stashed abroad.

He also dismissed the possibility that his father had transferred money from Swiss banks to safer and more confidential places in the wake of the snowballing reform movement, which ended with Soeharto's resignation.

"How can you say that money has been transferred out of Switzerland? You can check with any of the Swiss banks whether there were any transactions under my father's name in the past five or 10 years," he said.

When asked about his personal wealth, Bambang claimed he was no longer wealthy. "I might have been a rich person. But not anymore," he said. He said he kept most of his assets, mostly in shares, in Indonesia.

"And you must know that the value of my shares have dropped drastically. I also have liabilities that must be paid in dollars," he said.

"So, how can I be called a rich man now?" he asked. (imn/emf)