Manulife judges dishonest: KPKPN

Manulife judges dishonest: KPKPN

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After putting the heat on the attorney general, the Public
Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) revealed on Tuesday its
plan to report two of the three judges who declared the local
branch of Canadian insurance giant Manulife Financial as
bankrupt.

The head of KPKPN investigators to the case, Soekotjo
Soeparto, said Commercial Court judges Hasan Basri and Ch. Kristi
Purnamiwulan "were dishonest while reporting their wealth and
failed to clarify the discrepancies".

"We will soon submit our recommendation to the Supreme Court
to ask the two judges to resign. We will also ask the police to
further investigate them to see if they were engaged in
corruption, collusion or nepotism," he told reporters at his
office.

Soekotjo said Hassan's declaration of wealth to KPKPN showed
that his estate was valued at Rp 1.2 billion (US$133,000), 10
percent of which came from people who had won court cases.

Meanwhile, Kristi failed to report the remainder of her
assets, which are said to be worth Rp 1.4 billion.

Judges Hasan, Kristi and Tjahjono drew international and
domestic criticism last June when they declared PT Asuransi Jiwa
Manulife Indonesia bankrupt for failing to pay a dividend to its
previous owner PT Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera in 1999.

The Supreme Court later overturned the verdict, while the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, together with the police,
carried out an investigation into allegations that the judges
took bribes from PT Dharmala.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has also suspended them,
while the disciplinary committee of judges checks if there were
any possible violations within the judges' code of conduct.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said
that he and Chief Justice Bagir Manan had received a
recommendation on the three judges from the disciplinary
committee, but they may revise it before submitting it to the
President, who has the authority to dismiss the judges.

"The council's recommendation is different from what the
police have found," Yusril told reporters at his office.

The police said they would complete their investigation soon
and then lay charges.