Workers win over company's assets

Workers win over company's assets

TANGERANG: Tangerang District Court ruled on Tuesday that 455
dismissed workers of Kingstone Indonesia had precedence over
China Trust Bank, one of the bankrupt writing equipment
manufacturer's creditors, as regards claims to the company's
assets.

In August 2004, the court had allowed the workers to auction
off the assets, valued at Rp 7.8 billion (US$876,404), to fund
their severance pay after finding that the firm's owner, Whu Ming
Chi, had fled home to Taiwan.

After seeing an advertisement announcing the auction in a
newspaper, lawyers for China Trust Bank, which is owed Rp 18.45
billion by the company, objected to the auction, claiming that
the disputed assets had been pledged to the bank as collateral
for loans.

However, presiding judge Gatot Supramono rejected the bank's
arguments, saying that Whu Ming Chi was the only party who could
claim the assets or dispute their ownership.--JP