Land owned by Tommy in Serang confiscated

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta prosecutors seized on Saturday a plot of land belonging to fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, as a guarantee against his some Rp 30.6 billion (US$3.2 million) debt to the state.

The seizure of Tommy's land was led by prosecutor Yudi Sutoto of the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, who was accompanied by officials from the Serang Prosecutor's Office and Serang Police officers.

The 3.8-hectare plot of land is located in Bulakan village in Cinangka district, Serang regency, Banten province, near Anyer Beach.

The plot is divided by a road. Some 700 square meters of the plot is located on the seashore, while the remaining 2,900 square meters is located further back among some hills.

According to data from the Serang office of the National Land Agency, the plot has been owned by Tommy, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison on corruption charges stemming from a 1995 land exchange deal with the State Logistics Agency, since 1989.

The data also show the land ownership has been divided into seven different certificates.

The land fronting the ocean is worth Rp 160,000 per square meter, while the land further back in the hills is worth between Rp 25,000 and Rp 40,000 per square meter.

The head of Bulakan village, Tubagus Maman, said the plot had initially been set aside as a recreational site, but that plan apparently was scrapped for unknown reasons.

"Cement steps and a fence had been built on the hilly land, but the construction has been abandoned for years.

"The owner, Tommy, has never shown up here," he said at the site.

The plot's keeper, Hamdani, said he had been entrusted to turn the land into a plantation with the help of locals.

"Once a year, one of Tommy's aides, Roni, came here to check on the land and leave some money, including money to pay the annual tax on the land. This year, I paid Rp 3.25 million in land taxes," he said.

Prosecutors have seized a number of Tommy's private assets, including his home on Jl. Yusuf Adiwinata in Menteng, Central Jakarta, a villa in Bogor, West Java, and two other plots of land in Serang regency.

The prosecutors are awaiting a formal appraisal of the seized assets, but preliminary calculations show the value of the assets is almost equal to the amount of money Tommy has been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay to the state. (bby)