The Truth Behind the Story of Soekarno's 130 Trillion Rupiah Gold Deposit at Swiss Bank
A report regarding deposits of gold bars weighing 57 tons belonging to President Soekarno at a Swiss bank has resurfaced as a matter of hot discussion. According to the claim, this extraordinary wealth was even allegedly loaned by John F. Kennedy to finance American development during the 1960s.
Converted at current exchange rates, this wealth would be equivalent to 130 trillion rupiah. However, various historical facts actually demonstrate the opposite situation, whereby Bung Karno frequently lived under economic constraints during his tenure as head of state.
Based on existing historical records, it appears that Soekarno did not possess such wealth. Historical fact demonstrates that during his presidency, Soekarno lived in hardship. This was revealed by Soekarno himself in his interview with American journalist Cindy Adams.
Soekarno stated that his salary as president was only $220. He did not own a house or land either. Therefore, it was natural that he lived from one state palace to another, owned by the government.
In fact, according to Soekarno, he was once given pyjamas by an ambassador during a foreign visit. The ambassador felt sorry because Sukarno was wearing torn sleeping clothes.
“Is there a Head of State who is as poor as me and often borrows from his aides?” Sukarno told Cindy Adams in “Bung Karno: The Voice of the Indonesian People” (1964).
Still citing the interview with Cindy Adams, so poor was Soekarno that he was once nearly given a building through a collective contribution by the people. However, he declined, saying he did not want to burden anyone.
Soekarno’s statement in the interview with Cindy was confirmed by his eldest son, Guntur Soekarnoputra. In an opinion column in Media Indonesia published on 26 September 2020, Guntur stated that Soekarno did not have much money from before until he became President of the Republic of Indonesia. He also revealed that his father often borrowed money from his friends since the independence movement era, one of whom was Agoes Moesin Dasaad.
“As president, Bung Karno was the poorest president in the world. He had no land, no house, let alone precious metals as people have been trumpeting all this time,” said Guntur.
Guntur also clearly refuted the claim about ownership of the gold. He said the story does not make logical sense.
“Now they say his gold weighs tons. Just think, if tons of gold are stored in a bank in Switzerland, which I myself have visited, the storage space for money in Switzerland would not fit so much gold. So I think all of this is false,” said Guntur.
Indonesian historian Ong Hok Ham also refuted the rumour of Soekarno’s immense wealth. Through his work “Power and State” (1983), Ong debunked the story and provided the actual historical facts. One of them relates to the story of Soekarno inheriting the wealth of the Islamic Mataram Kingdom.
According to Ong, it is impossible for someone to inherit wealth from an ancient kingdom. Especially to pass on gold bars. The problem is that the wealth of ancient kingdoms was not as large as imagined. Especially when the Islamic Mataram was said to still have debts to the VOC.
Ong also stated that the story of Soekarno’s wealth could actually be refuted by a simple argument: if he had gold, Soekarno should not have ended up impoverished until the end of his life.
This means that the story of the gold treasure of Indonesia’s first president, which has long been believed, is not true. Hopefully this information can clarify public assumptions regarding the legend of Soekarno’s 57-ton gold.