Court delays bankruptcy claim against Fiskaragung
Court delays bankruptcy claim against Fiskaragung
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Commercial Court delayed on Thursday
the first hearing on the bankruptcy petition jointly filed by 10
foreign creditors against publicly listed salt producer PT
Fiskaragung Perkasa.
"The court's first hearing is delayed until next week to give
more time to the defendant's lawyer to study the case," the
presiding judge said.
The defendant's lawyer Harry Ponto of Lontoh & Kailimang said
he needed more time to study the case, saying he had only
received copies of the bankruptcy claim from his client yesterday
afternoon.
"I can't give you any comments on this case yet," Harry said
after the court session.
The judge said that according to the bankruptcy law, the court
must determine the ruling on a case within 30 days of the claim
being filed.
The case was jointly filed on May 14 by the 10 foreign
creditors. Hong Kong creditors are Hanil Leasing & Finance (HK)
Ltd., Hanmi Leasing and Finance (HK) Ltd., KEB Leasing and
Finance Ltd., CBK Leasing and Finance (HK) Ltd., ORIX Asia
Limited, Hong Kong First Citicorp Leasing (HK) Ltd. Kyongnam Bank
of Korea, and Kookmin Bank, both of South Korea, as well as AMMB
International of Malaysia and KDLC Leasing of Singapore are the
other creditors.
The plaintiff's lawyer Faisal Tadjuddin of Tiara Faisal &
Panggabean law firm said the defendant failed to repay the total
debt of US$29 million which matured on May 15, 1998, to the
foreign creditors.
"The defendant has also breached an agreement with my clients
to not borrow additional funds before the outstanding debt with
my clients is fully repaid," Faisal said.
Last week, the defendant Fiskaragung sent a letter to the
Jakarta Stock Exchange notifying it of the company's default on
some $30 million medium-term notes.
Separately, the Commercial Court turned down the bankruptcy
claim filed by the Cayman Islands-based The Vietnam Frontier Fund
(VFF) against state-owned ship builder PT Dok & Perkapalan Kodja
Bahari.
"The plaintiff failed to prove that the defendant has two or
more creditors," said the judge in Thursday's verdict. (udi)