Cars believed to belong to Tommy seized at workshop

JAKARTA (JP): West Jakarta Police raided an automotive workshop late on Wednesday and impounded ten luxury cars believed to belong to the fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, an police officer said on Thursday.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said the raid was carried out at the Reza Jaya 81 automotive workshop on Jl. Pahlawan, Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.

"The cars are Tommy's and were entrusted to the workshop by his brother-in-law, Tito, seven months ago. The cost is Rp 6 million (US$706) per month," Anton said, referring to Pratikto "Tito" Prayitno Singgih who is the husband of Siti Hutami "Mamiek" Endang Adiningsih, Tommy's younger sister.

The cars included a Lamborghini, a BMW sports sedan, and a Mercedes Benz jeep.

The raid was conducted as part of the police effort to arrest Tommy, who went on the run after the Supreme Court sentenced him to 18 months in jail in November last year for corruption.

Prior to the Wednesday-night raid, the police said they had received a tip-off from nearby residents saying that Tommy was often seen entering and leaving the workshop.

"Whatever information we receive from the public, we will check it out and follow it up as meticulously as possible," Anton said.

Six employees of the workshop were reportedly being held for questioning at West Jakarta Police headquarters as of Thursday afternoon.

The workshop's owner Hardjuni, however, denied that the cars were Tommy's, saying that they all belonged to his customers.

The impounded cars were still inside the workshop and Hardjuni did not know whether the police would take them to police headquarters or not.

"If my customers come to take their cars, I will ask them to talk to police so the police will believe that I am not lying," he said.

Hardjuni claimed that among the members of the former first family, only Tito had once came to his workshop but he stressed that the visit was for business purposes.

"I've never known Tommy and he has never come here," he told reporters at the workshop.

The former employee of the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina said that in 1998 there had been a plan to convert the workshop into a dealership for PT Timor Putra Nasional (TPN), which was owned by Tommy, but that the plan had not been realized to date.

"It wasn't me who made the arrangement but my colleague, so I never had any contact with anyone called Tommy, never," Hardjuni claimed.

On Thursday, police also raided units which are believed to belong to Tommy in the Taman Anggrek apartments in West Jakarta and Kemayoran apartments in Central Jakarta, in an attempt to locate the fugitive. Both raids were unsuccessful.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb said that the police would reevaluate its manhunt for Tommy on Sept. 12, but did not say whether the operation would be continued. (emf)