Prosecutors seize Tommy's property

Prosecutors seize Tommy's property

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office seized on
Tuesday a house belonging to Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra as a
guarantee against the fugitive's some Rp 30.6 billion (US$3.2
million) debt to the state, arising from a 1995 land swap deal.

The head of the special crimes department at the prosecutor's
office, Taharuddin, said the management of the house at Jl.
Cendana No. 6 in Menteng, Central Jakarta, was entrusted to
Tommy's lawyer Elza Syarief, who witnessed the seizure along with
former president Soeharto's lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon.

"We seized today (Tuesday) the land and the house at Jl.
Cendana No. 6 whose property rights are owned by Hutomo Mandala
Putra," said Taharuddin, who led the joint team of prosecutors,
police and state land agency officials involved in the seizure.

"The tenants can still live here and all activities can
continue as usual. But it's up to Ibu Elza," he added.

He said the property measured about 1,300 square meters, but
the government had yet to appraise the value of the land and the
house.

The head of the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, Antasari
Azhar, said earlier that the seizure was meant to prevent Tommy,
the youngest son of Soeharto, handing over ownership of the
property to a third party.

Prosecutors earlier seized Tommy's house at Jl. Adiwinata No.
4 in Menteng, a villa in Bogor, West Java, and several plots of
lands in Serang, Banten province.

Tommy was convicted in a land exchange deal between his
wholesale company PT Goro Batara Sakti and the State Logistics
Agency (Bulog), which caused some Rp 76.7 billion in losses to
the state. Tommy's PT Humpuss had an 80 percent ownership in PT
Goro before the firm was acquired by the Indonesian Prime
Cooperative.

The seizure on Tuesday was protested by Elza, who hinted that
she would submit an official letter of complaint to the
prosecutors.

"The prosecutors should be transparent in appraising all of my
client's assets that have been seized as collateral, and not just
keep on confiscating his properties.

"Moreover, Tommy is not the sole owner of the 80 percent stake
(in Goro). Why didn't the prosecutors instead seize the PT
Humpuss building as collateral to the obligation?"

The house at Jl. Cendana No. 6 was once used by prosecutors to
question the ailing Soeharto, who was a suspect in a graft case.
The main living area of the Soeharto family is located at Jl.
Cendana No. 8. (bby)