The Mystery of Soekarno's 57 Tonnes of Gold in Swiss Banks Finally Revealed
Rumours of President Soekarno’s gold deposits in Switzerland have circulated widely in Indonesian society for many years. The story claimed that Indonesia’s founding president possessed up to 57 tonnes of gold bars stored in Swiss banks, and it was even alleged that former US President John F. Kennedy had once borrowed from this cache.
However, upon closer examination of historical records and testimonies from those closest to Soekarno, the narrative proves to have no solid foundation. Multiple historical sources suggest that Soekarno’s life as president was far removed from any image of abundant wealth.
According to various historical records, including an interview Soekarno granted to American journalist Cindy Adams, the founding president admitted to living simply during his tenure as head of state. He stated that his presidential salary was only approximately US$220 and that he owned neither a house nor personal land. Soekarno even recounted how an ambassador had once bought him pyjamas during a foreign visit, as the ambassador felt sorry for him wearing torn sleeping clothes.
“Is there a head of state who is as poor as I am and frequently borrows money from his aides?” Soekarno asked Cindy Adams in the 1964 publication “Bung Karno: Penyambung Lidah Rakyat Indonesia”.
According to the same interview with Adams, Soekarno’s poverty was such that he was nearly given a building through a collective contribution by the public, but he declined, unwilling to burden others.
Soekarno’s Family Statement
Soekarno’s remarks in the interview with Adams were corroborated by his eldest son, Guntur Soekarnoputra. In an opinion column published in Media Indonesia on 26 September 2020, Guntur stated that Soekarno had possessed little money both before and during his presidency.
He also revealed that his father frequently borrowed money from friends dating back to the independence movement, including from Agoes Moesin Dasaad.
“As president, Bung Karno was the poorest president in the world. He had no land, no house, much less precious metals as people have claimed all these years,” Guntur said.
Guntur also explicitly refuted claims about his father’s gold holdings, stating that the story made no logical sense. “They say now that the gold is in tonnes. Think about it—if there were tonnes of gold stored in a Swiss bank, which I myself have visited, the storage space for money in Switzerland wouldn’t even be large enough to accommodate that much gold. So I believe this is all false,” Guntur said.
Indonesian historian Ong Hok Ham also dismissed the rumour of Soekarno’s vast wealth. Through his 1983 work “Kuasa dan Negara” (Power and the State), Ong refuted the narrative and presented actual historical facts. One such fact concerned the story that Soekarno inherited wealth from the Islamic Mataram Kingdom.
According to Ong, it is implausible that anyone could inherit wealth from an ancient kingdom, particularly gold bars. The fundamental problem is that ancient kingdoms did not possess the vast treasures imagined. Moreover, the Islamic Mataram Kingdom allegedly still owed debts to the Dutch East India Company (VOC).
Ong also noted that Soekarno’s wealth story could be easily disproven with a simple argument: if he possessed gold, Soekarno should not have lived in poverty until his death.
This means the legend of the treasure trove of gold bars belonging to Indonesia’s first president, which has long been believed, is false. It is hoped that this information will correct public misconceptions regarding the 57-tonne Soekarno gold legend.