Second Wife's Actions Expose Indonesian Official's Rp1.3 Trillion Corruption Scandal
The corruption case involving former high-ranking State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN) official Ahmad Thahir, valued at Rp1.3 trillion, was uncovered through an inheritance dispute. The efforts of his second wife to claim her rights to his estate revealed previously hidden wealth.
Ahmad Thahir previously held a significant position in a state-owned company. In his personal life, Thrig was married twice; his first marriage to Rukiah took place in the 1960s and ended in divorce. In 1974, Thahir remarried a woman named Kartika.
However, the marriage lasted only about two years, as Thahir passed away in 1976. Following his death, disputes regarding his estate brought much larger issues to light.
As reported by the Bernas newspaper (5 December 1992), four days after Thahir’s death, Kartika flew from Switzerland to Singapore to claim her late husband’s savings at Bank Sumitomo. The amount reached US$78 million, which was approximately Rp160 billion at the time. When converted to current exchange rates, this sum is equivalent to roughly Rp1.3 trillion.
Kartika’s attempt failed after Thahir’s children from his first marriage blocked the account. This dispute between Kartika and the children from the previous marriage eventually alerted the government to the existence of the funds. The amount held in Singapore was deemed irrational compared to Thahir’s official income as a state enterprise official.
According to the Suara Karya newspaper (11 March 1980), Thahir received a salary of only US$600 per month. Consequently, suspicions arose that the funds did not originate from his official earnings.
The allegations of corruption eventually reached President Soeharto. The President subsequently instructed Benny Moerdani to intervene to pursue the funds and return them to the state treasury.
‘Around early 1977, Benny was called by Soeharto to discuss information regarding a sum of money stored in Bank Sumitomo, Singapore,’ stated Julius Pour in his autobiography, Benny: Tragedy of a Loyalist (2007).
Benny, who was then an assistant to the TNI intelligence, met with Kartika. According to the autobiography Benny Moerdani yang Belum Terungkap (2014), Benny met Kartika six times. During these meetings, Benny attempted to negotiate the return of the Singapore-held funds to the state, presenting evidence that the funds belonged to the government.
However, negotiations proved unsuccessful. The government ultimately chose to pursue legal action to recover the funds. The legal process was lengthy; the Indonesian government had to wait approximately 15 years until the case reached a verdict at the Singapore High Court in December 1992.
‘I ordered Sumitomo Bank to pay the entire amount recorded in each of the 17 ACU deposits in Deutsche Mark, including accumulated and accruing interest,’ wrote the Singapore High Court in its decision, Sumitomo Bank Ltd v Kartika Ratna Thahir and others and another matter [1992] SGHC 301.
In the ruling, the government was declared entitled to the deposits worth US$78 million. The funds were identified as bribes paid to Thahir. At current exchange rates, the value is equivalent to approximately Rp1.3 trillion.
‘The government won its lawsuit after a 15-year legal struggle to recover millions of dollars in frozen funds worth US$78 million, which were commissions provided by two German companies to Thahir,’ reported the Bernas newspaper (5 December 1992).
The Indonesian government’s victory in Singapore was welcomed domestically. Finance Minister J.B. Sumarlin stated that the funds would be secured and used for the public interest.
‘The government is delighted with the Singapore High Court’s decision, which ruled in favour of the lawsuit regarding the deposits of a former government official,’ said Sumarlin.
After a long wait of over a decade, the money was finally returned to the state treasury for public use, leaving Kartika and Thahir’s children from his first marriage with nothing.