Suharto's assets seized - says Indonesian Attorney- General's Office

Straits Times [Singapore] - April 23, 2000

Suharto's assets SEIZED

JAKARTA -- The government has started seizing assets belonging to former President Suharto, a spokesman for the Attorney-General's Office said yesterday.

"His assets in various forms have been seized," spokesman Yushar Yahya told the Indonesiakini online news service. "The seizure was done in a confidential manner," he said, adding that the move was continuing and that a search was on for assets that might be hidden. He refused to elaborate on the assets that had been confiscated.

One of Mr Suharto's lawyers, Mr Denny Kailimang, said his client had submitted a list of his assets to the Attorney-General's Office.

"Some of the bank accounts owned by Tutut were blocked," a source told Indonesiakini, referring to Mr Suharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.

President Abdurrahman Wahid said earlier this year that his government had sought the assistance of the Swiss government in recovering any of the assets that might be in Swiss banks.

Mr Suharto, 78, has been named a suspect in a revived investigation into his alleged corruption during his 32 years in power. An earlier probe was dropped in the last days of the Habibie government for "lack of evidence".

Mr Suharto has denied any wrongdoing and has sued the Time magazine over a cover story last May which estimated his family's wealth at some US$15 billion (S$25.4 billion).

The Attorney-General's office has put the former Indonesian leader, who suffered a mild stroke last year, under "city arrest" and barred him from travelling overseas for a year.

Earlier this month, he was questioned on graft charges at his home after failing to answer three successive summons to appear at the prosecutors' office. -- AFP

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