Van Der Horst reports bank to police over withdrawal of Rp 5b

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Victoria International was reported to the police on Tuesday for its refusal to allow a publicly listed company to withdraw Rp 5 billion of its money.

Prominent businessman Edward S. Soeryadjaya, who has been president director of PT Van Der Horst since October, said in a report filed with the Jakarta Police the bank did not have a legally valid reason to refuse to allow the company to withdraw the money from its saving account.

The incident took place in October shortly after the company held an extraordinary shareholders meeting to appoint a new board of directors.

"Bank Victoria refused our request to withdraw the money with reasons which are unacceptable by legal standards," Edward said at police headquarters.

Edward, the former head of collapsed Bank Summa, said the bank refused to approve the withdrawal because it doubted the legitimacy of the company's new board of directors.

Accompanied by the company's vice president director, Stefanus Ginting, Edward said the bank's refusal had destroyed the firm's reputation.

"(The bank's decision) damaged the trust many businesses in the country have in our company," Edward said, adding that the bank should be charged with violating Article 310 of the Criminal Code on defamation.

Last month, the bank's management was quoted as saying they would approve the company's request to withdraw the money only when the new board of directors had a legal basis.

"(We will approve the cash withdrawal) when there is a legal decision on who is authorized to use the company's savings," bank director Kepatuhan Wijayanto told Bisnis Indonesia daily.

Wijayanto also said the decision was simply part of the bank's effort to meet the prudential principles as required in banking regulations.

"This does not mean the money cannot be withdrawn. The money and its interest is theirs," Wijayanto added.

The bank made the decision following a dispute between the new board of directors and legal firm Lucas S.H. & Partners, which represents the company's public shareholders.

One of the associates at the firm, N.M. Damping, placed an advertisement in a newspaper protesting the appointment of the new board of directors at the Oct. 13 shareholders meeting.

The ad said the appointment of the new board was unacceptable because the vote was taken by an insufficient number of shareholders. (jaw)