Ex-partner files complaint against Sudwikatmono

JAKARTA (JP): Bambang Sutrisno, the former deputy chief commissioner of the now defunct Bank Surya, lodged a complaint on Monday against his former business partner, Sudwikatmono, for defamation, slander and contempt.

Bambang's lawyer, Sudjono, submitted the complaint to National Police chief detective Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.

Sudjono charged that Sudwikatmono, a cousin of former president Soeharto, had wrongly blamed Bambang for Bank Surya's inability to repay credits supplied to the bank by Bank Indonesia.

The government suspended Bank Surya last April.

"On Sept. 7, 1998, Sudwikatmono went to the Attorney General's Office... (and) told the press... that Bank Surya could not repay the liquidity credits to Bank Indonesia because a total of US$500 million had been taken away by Bambang Sutrisno," Sudjono said in the statement, addressed to the National Police chief.

"This statement is not true because Bambang had left Bank Surya before it received the liquidity support," he stated.

He said Sudwikatmono, the chief commissioner of both Bank Surya and the Golden Truly Group, was also only trying to avoid paying Bambang $10 million for purchasing Bambang's stake in the bank and Golden Truly.

Sudjono said last week that Bambang had sold his entire equity share in Golden Truly, which owns 84 percent of Bank Surya, to Sudwikatmono on Sept. 8 last year for $10 million before subsequently resigning from the group and the bank.

Sudwikatmono, who is currently residing in Singapore, has yet to pay Bambang for the share, he said.

Sudjono called on the police to immediately investigate Sudwikatmono and to forward the case to the attorney general.

Bank Surya received more than Rp 1 trillion in liquidity credits from Bank Indonesia before it was suspended.

Sudwikatmono's lawyer, Deny Kailimang, has put the blame on Bambang. He said the former commissioner should be held responsible for any mismanagement.

At a news conference last week, Deny said Bambang had established 166 companies using the names of his employees as shareholders and management to obtain credits from Bank Surya with mortgage values much lower than the amount of credit received.

Sudjono challenged both Sudwikatmono and his lawyer to prove the allegation in court: "If he can prove everything he alleged, then he can make Bambang pay."

Deny said his client could not track Bambang down because the latter had disappeared since July last year.

Sudjono said Bambang had moved to Singapore because he had been "terrorized by Sudwikatmono's people" here.

The National Police and the Attorney General's Office have recently been questioning owners and key executives of ailing banks which have not returned the liquidity credits extended by Bank Indonesia to them. (das/emf)