Manulife faces bankruptcy charges
JAKARTA (JP): Canadian-based life insurance firm PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia (AJMI) is in yet another legal bout, this time fending off bankruptcy charges at Central Jakarta Commercial Court, with a verdict announced this Thursday.
AJMI legal representative Hotma Sitompoel said earlier this week that a relative of one of the company's clients filed a bankruptcy petition on July 25 charging AJMI with ignoring payments of a life insurance policy.
"Our client, AJMI, rejects the bankruptcy petition arising from its decision not to pay out a life insurance policy by Alaydrus, who is the beneficiary of the late Taufik Effendi," he said on Monday.
The case centers around a Rp 50 million (about US$5,800) life insurance policy which, according to Alaydrus, should had been paid out to Taufik who died last year.
Hotma argued the company refused to pay the claim as Taufik failed to mention his health condition accordingly when he applied for his life insurance policy.
Alaydrus' lawyer Bramm & Associates, however, claimed that AJMI's decision to deny the payment of the life insurance policy caused its client to suffer Rp 5.1 billion in losses.
This sum took into account the unpaid policy worth Rp 50 million and a hefty Rp 5 billion in non-material losses.
Bramm & Associates, in its bankruptcy petition to the court, cited Alaydrus and several other policyholders as "creditors" of AJMI.
The bankruptcy law requires that a bankruptcy suit against a company can only be brought up by at least two creditors.
Hotma, however, claimed that Alaydrus had failed to obtain legal recognition at a civil court over his claim as AJMI's creditor, before filing the bankruptcy petition.
Manulife, meanwhile, is not new to fighting what it once called the "mafia" in the local court.
Last year, an unknown company, West Samoa-based Roman Gold Assets Limited, triggered a police investigation into Manulife on charges it had falsified shares in AJMI.
The charges came after Manulife purchased the shares of its former joint venture partner in AJMI, the now bankrupt PT Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera.
Manulife's struggle to defend the acquisition, gained foreign investors' attention, making it a showcase of Indonesia's wrecked legal system.
Last May, former president Abdurrahman Wahid then ordered a stop to the investigation against Manulife. He said the case had hurt Indonesia's image in front of foreign investors.
The managing director of Manulife Indonesia, Chris Bendl, suspected the people who had disputed Manulife's purchase of Dharmala's stake in AJMI were now behind the current bankruptcy case.
Court documents reveal Bramm & Associates share the same address as Lucas & Partners, the law office representing the little-known West Samoan company in the previous legal bout against Manulife. (bkm/iwa)