Asian Political News: Investigators question another son of Suharto

JAKARTA, June 1 Kyodo

Investigators on Tuesday questioned another son of former President Suharto over a recent Time magazine article on his father's wealth, but Sigit Harjojudanto denied most of the article's claims. Soehandoyo, spokesman of the Attorney General's Office, where Sigit had been questioned, quoted Sigit as saying that most of the claims made by the magazine are untrue. "However, he admitted he has two houses in London, one in his name and another in the name of Elsye, his wife," Soehandoyo said. The houses were reportedly bought in 1983 and 1993 and each have a value of about 600,000 pounds (about 900,000 U.S. dollars). The May 24 edition of Time, a U.S. weekly news magazine, claims that Sigit, 48, owns two homes in London's exclusive Hampstead area worth 12 million dollars a piece. The article says he also has houses in Los Angeles and outside Geneva. He admitted holding 40% of the shares of the diversified Humpuss Group controlled by his younger brother and Suharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, as reported in the Time article. He also said he owned stakes in two other companies with ties to his father. Time says Sigit is a silent partner in hundreds of other companies and properties. The magazine estimates Sigit's wealth at 800 million U.S. dollars. The article describes him as a "serious gambler" who is frequently seen in roulette and baccarat tables in London, Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Perth. His gambling partners said he wagered up to 3 million dollars a night and that over his lifetime he has racked up losses of at least 150 million dollars. Sigit was the third child of Suharto's family questioned by the investigators over Time's allegations. The day before, Siti Hardijanti Hastuti "Tutut" Indra Rukmana, Suharto's eldest daughter, was questioned. She denied claims by Time, which put her personal wealth at 700 million dollars. Bambang Trihatmodjo, Suharto's third child and second oldest son, was questioned Friday. Suharto is scheduled to file a report to the National Police Headquarters on Wednesday in a bid to sue Time. The former president claims the magazine failed to provide supporting evidence for its report on the Suharto family fortune. In the investigative report, Time says the family is worth 15 billion dollars. The fortune is reportedly in the form of cash, property, art, jewelry and jet aircraft. The report claims that Suharto transferred 9 billion dollars from a Swiss bank to an Austrian bank several days after he resigned in May last year amid demonstrations. On the orders of President B.J. Habibie, State Secretary Muladi, who is also justice minister, and Attorney General Andi Muhammad Ghalib have been dispatched to Switzerland to trace alleged transfers of the Suhartos' money. They plan to do the same thing in Austria. Habibie has been under pressure to conclude an investigation on Suharto's fortune, especially from the ruling party Golkar. The party, which has picked him as presidential candidate, has threatened to drop its nomination if he fails to complete the investigation before a general session of the People's Consultative Assembly scheduled for Oct. 1-3. Observers say the Time report has been a sharp rebuke to Habibie's administration, which had been accused of foot-dragging in the investigation.