IBRA files suit against Hashim

IBRA files suit against Hashim

JAKARTA (Reuters): The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) filed a bankruptcy suit against well-connected businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo on Tuesday over his failure to repay over US$500,000 owed by one of his companies, court papers said.

The move marks another effort by IBRA to force recalcitrant debtors to pay the agency, which is responsible for restructuring of the country's battered banking system.

In court papers obtained by Reuters, IBRA said Hashim should be declared bankrupt following the payment failure because he was the personal guarantor for the debts owed by trading company PT Comexindo Maritime to Bank Umum Nasional.

Bank Umum Nasional was closed down during the Asian financial crisis and its assets transferred to IBRA.

Hashim, who has close links to disgraced former President Soeharto, is also president director of mid-sized cement producer Semen Cibinong.

Hashim owns nearly 100 percent of PT Tirtamas Comexindo, previously called PT Prima Comexindo, which owns 90 percent of Comexindo Maritime.

The Tirtamas group is IBRA's sixth-largest debtor.

The debts originated from a $500,000 loan extended to Comexindo Maritime in 1995, which matured in February 1998. The first hearing on the case is scheduled to be held at the Central Jakarta Commercial Court next week.