Bank Niaga, Suryamas case to go to high court
Bank Niaga, Suryamas case to go to high court
JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed Bank Niaga said it would appeal
a court decision ordering it to pay a US$60 million fine to PT
Suryamas Duta Makmur.
The bank's attorney, Faisal Syahmenan of Warens & Achyar law
firm, said Wednesday that his client was not satisfied with the
ruling and had decided to appeal to the Jakarta High Court.
The South Jakarta District Court ordered Bank Niaga on Monday
to pay the fine over a derivative transaction.
Judge JMT Simatupang, who presided over the hearing on Monday,
said the bank had failed to meet its obligations and had broken
the law.
"The bank has broken the law because it has failed to meet the
agreement it made with PT Suryamas," Simatupang said.
Suryamas' lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, said the bank did not
honor an agreement for the property developer to buy $100 million
in currency futures at an agreed rupiah rate of Rp 2,596.67 prior
to the financial crisis hitting the country last year.
Faisal said his client was not obligated to pay the property
developer.
Instead, the developer should repay the loan it obtained from
Bank Niaga, he said.
"Suryamas has changed the whole story. It should be Bank Niaga
that sued PT Suryamas," Faisal added.
The dispute between the two parties started last year when
Suryamas applied for a loan from Bank Niaga to develop Rancamaya
housing complex in Bogor and Bumi Manggala housing complex in
Cibubur, East Jakarta.
On July 17, 1997 the bank agreed to lend $50 million to the
real estate developer through a derivative transaction scheme at
a rate of Rp 2,596.67 to the dollar.
The rupiah was still trading at Rp 2,425 to the dollar at the
time.
But Suryamas' lawyer said his client never received any money
from the bank and the bank had never explained the risks of the
facility to his client.
But in a surprising move mid this year, the bank asked the
property developer to repay the $50 million loan at a rate of Rp
14,200 to the dollar after it said the loan had matured on July
20, Hotman said.
He said his client had not received any money from the bank
and therefore the agreement between Suryamas and Bank Niaga was
invalid.
However, Faisal said his client had sufficient proof of the
loan agreement with real estate developer.
"We have proof of the loan agreement and we will fight for
Bank Niaga on the case," he said. (aly)