Tycoon Ciputra denies Ancol land swindle

JAKARTA (JP): Property tycoon Ciputra denied on Tuesday charges by city council members that he had personally profited from a land deal in Ancol, North Jakarta, in 1992-93, at the expense of the city administration.

The former chief commissioner of PT Pembangunan Jaya said that the city administration held 80 percent equity in PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, the subsidiary that supposedly profited from the land deal in question.

"The land was never bought in the first place. It belonged to the city administration and was exchanged for an 80 percent stake in Pembangunan Jaya Ancol," he told reporters.

The administration, he added, did not contribute any capital to Pembangunan Jaya Ancol.

Pembangunan Jaya, a joint venture in which the city administration has a 40 percent stake, is the holding company for PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol (PJA), which developed an exclusive housing complex near Ancol beach in North Jakarta.

Ciputra, who founded the business group, retired from the post of chief commissioner five years ago.

The City Council's Commission B on Economic Affairs accused PJA on Monday of ripping off the city administration by as much as Rp 271 billion ($28.5 million) from the sales of land plots in Ancol Timur.

It said that PJA bought the 46-hectare piece of land for Rp 13 billion from the administration, parceled it into smaller plots and then sold most of it at Rp 800,000 per square meter.

Councillor Ugiek Soegihardjo said that the profit should have been transferred to the administration's coffers.

The council's accusation prompted Ciputra to visit City Hall to explain the situation to Governor Sutiyoso. (07)