Movie star Onky and father tried for graft

JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers of movie star Onky Alexander and his father have asked the West Jakarta District Court to annul criminal charges against their clients, arguing that the money dispute between their clients and two friends is a civil case.

OC Kaligis, who served as the lawyer of Onky Alexander and his father, said the prosecutor's charges against his clients were "unclear and biased," on the grounds that the defendants had been involved in a swindle by using faked documents in a land purchase.

"It is purely a civil case. Therefore we ask the panel of judges to annul the criminal charges against our clients," he said during the trial session at the West Jakarta District Court yesterday.

The trial of Onky Alexander, 29, a local teen idol, was widely covered by local media. Onky's father is Anton Hatmoko Poernomo Sapardan, 57.

Onky starred many pictures, including "Catatan si Boy" (The Notes of Boy).

Onky's case first appeared in the press in October 1992, when the West Jakarta police arrested him and then kept him in custody for three days for questioning. He was later released by police on bail.

Cheated

Onky was charged by Mrs. Ni Made Tiani to have cheated her out of Rp 200 million (US$93,153).

Onky borrowed that sum from her in December 1991, using a deed for a 1,380-square-meter parcel of land in Tambora district, West Jakarta as collateral. The loan was made with the provision that the land would automatically become her property if Onky failed to repay the debt in three months.

Onky failed to pay his debt, but Ni Made Tiani preferred cash to land.

Onky and his father sold the land to Achmad, a contractor, for Rp 300 million ($139,729), including Rp 20 million ($9,315) in cash and Rp 270 million ($125,756) in the form of two cheques.

Onky gave the cheques to Ni Made Tiany but she found they were invalid.

Thinking that Onky had cheated her, Ni Made Tiany reported him to the police which led to his arrest in October.

While Onky was out on bail, police accepted a report in December from Achmad, that Onky had cheated him out of Rp 20 million.

Achmad said Onky and his father had sold him the 1,380 square meter land and he had paid Rp 20 million in advance. The land however measures only 447 square meters, Achmad said.

Police tried to put him back into custody, but Onky disappeared for six months, ignoring his obligation to report to the police twice a week. He turned himself in to the police in March, 1993.

Prosecutors M. Sidik Latuconsina and M Noor Said said the land sold by Onky and his father to Achmad did not belong to them but to Mrs. Rogayah, who never transferred her ownership to both father and son.

The trial, which was presided over by judge M. Ali Boediarto, was adjourned until next Monday . (jsk)