Manulife sues Roman Gold, Gondokusumo
Manulife sues Roman Gold, Gondokusumo
JAKARTA (JP): PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia (AJMI) said
on Monday it had filed criminal suits against Suyanto
Gondokusumo, the principal of Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera (DSS)
group, and British Virgin Islands-based firm Roman Gold Assets
over a share purchase dispute.
The insurance firm said in a statement that the lawsuit,
accused Suyanto of forging documents and engaging in an alleged
sham transaction in the sale of the DSS share certificates to
Roman Gold.
The company asked the police to investigate Suyanto and Roman
Gold.
The filing of the criminal suits against Suyanto and Roman
Gold is the latest development in legal jousting that is forcing
AJMI to defend its reputation after the majority shareholder of
the insurance firm was accused of illegal shares acquisition.
Until the shares acquisition, Manulife Indonesia was 51
percent owned by PT Manulife Insurance Company, a subsidiary of
Canada-based Manulife Financial, in partnership with DSS, which
had 40 percent shares, and International Finance Corporation, a
subsidiary of World Bank, which held the remaining 9 percent.
DSS, which was listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, was
declared bankrupt by the Jakarta Commercial Court in June this
year.
Last month, Manulife Insurance Company purchased the 40
percent stake of DSS in AJMI for Rp 170 billion (US$16.4 million)
through an auction sale by the court. The proceeds were expected
to pay DSS' financial obligations to creditors.
According to the insurance firm, the auction was approved and
authorized by the Indonesian government and adhered to existing
regulations.
However, the police dismissed the share acquisition as
illegal, citing Roman Gold's allegation that it had bought the
DSS shares.
The police arrested AJMI's vice president Adhi Poernomo on
charges of duplicating share certificates held by DSS.
Adhi has been in police custody for 20 days.
AJMI's president Philip Hampden-Smith voiced concerns over the
fact that the police had detained Adhi and put AJMI under
scrutiny despite the legitimate purchase of the shares, while
making no probes into Suyanto and Roman Gold.
"Manulife Indonesia bought the shares of our bankrupt partner
with the full support of the other shareholder, International
Finance Corporation ... at a ministry of finance and Indonesian
government authorized auction.
"Despite this fact, we now find ourselves under intense
scrutiny and our vice president in police custody without charge
-- while neither Roman Gold and DSS have even been investigated
by the police," Hampden-Smith said, calling on the police to
investigate Suyanto and Roman Gold.
Hampden-Smith also called on the police to release Adhi,
citing that under Indonesian law, a suspect might be allowed to
stay home on condition that the suspect would not damage evidence
or run away.
"We are doing all we can within the laws and regulations of
Indonesia to get our friend and colleague out of detention and
back to his family, as he has not done anything wrong," Hampden-
Smith said. (jsk)