Facts about Toll Road Boss Jusuf Hamka Demanding Government Debt of Rp179 Billion: Allegedly Using Tutut Soeharto's Name and Asking for Mahfud MD's Help

Dream - Toll businessman Jusuf Hamka is demanding a debt of Rp179.5 billion from the government. The debt comes from his company's deposit, PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada Tbk. (CMNP), at Bank Yakin Makmur (Yama) which went bankrupt during the 1998 monetary crisis.

According to Jusuf Hamka, when calculated with interest, the debt currently amounts to Rp800 billion, and could even reach trillions. However, in the agreement, only Rp179.5 billion is paid.

"If it's now more than Rp800 billion, Rp1.4 trillion is already included in the principal," said Jusuf. PT CMNP is a private contractor involved in the construction of toll roads in the country.

Origin of the Debt

Government debt, in this case, the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu), originated from PT CMNP depositing money in Bank Yama.

However, when the 1998 monetary crisis occurred, Bank Yama went bankrupt, so the government provided Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI). This injection of funds should have made the deposits in Bank Yama the responsibility of the government.

"We had our deposits placed in Bank Yama. At that time, many banks were liquidated, but mine was not replaced," said Jusuf Hamka.

Debt Agreement

Jusuf Hamka, through CMNP, filed a lawsuit in 2012. In short, the government and CMNP agreed on a total principal deposit and interest of Rp179.46 billion, based on the Supreme Court's decision.

The breakdown of the principal deposit is Rp78,843,577,534.20 plus Rp76,089,246.80 plus Rp100,543,655,478 (interest/penalty of 32.5 percent of the total interest/penalty calculated until the cut-off date of July 2015, amounting to Rp309,365,093,781.00) totaling Rp179,463,322,259.82.

Using Tutut Soeharto's Name

The Ministry of Finance, through the special staff of the Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, Yustinus Prastowo, said that Jusuf Hamka's payment request during the 1998 crisis was rejected because Bank Yama and CMNP were affiliated with the daughter of former President Soeharto, Siti Hardiyanti or Tutut Soeharto.

"Bank Yama and CMNP are owned by Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, so the guarantee provisions for CMNP's deposit did not receive government guarantee because there is an affiliated relationship between CMNP and Bank Yama," he said.

Therefore, according to Prastowo, the repayment request was rejected by the National Banking Restructuring Agency (BPPN) as the institution formed to carry out banking restructuring.

"CMNP did not accept the BPPN's decision, so they filed a lawsuit to still receive the deposit repayment. CMNP's lawsuit was granted and obtained a verdict that sentenced the Minister of Finance to repay the deposit," he said.

Prastowo stated that the payment of the deposit was not due to the state having contractual obligations to CMNP.

"The judge believes that the State is responsible for the failure of Bank Yama to return CMNP's deposit. Thus, the State is sentenced to pay from the state budget to return CMNP's deposit stored in a bank owned by the owner of CMNP," he said.

He stated that the payment request has been responded to by the Advocacy Bureau of the Ministry of Finance to the lawyers appointed by CMNP and to other parties representing CMNP.

Considering that the verdict resulted in a burden on state financial expenditures, Prastowo stated that the implementation of the verdict must comply with the mechanism of state financial management based on the State Finance Law, especially the principle of prudence.

"Therefore, it is necessary to conduct research first, both in terms of the state's financial ability in order to maintain public interests that need to be financed by the state, as well as research to ensure that the expenditure of budgetary burdens has complied with the provisions of state financial management," he said.

Sri Mulyani Speaks Out

In response to this, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati admitted that she has not studied the debt mentioned by Jusuf Hamka. Therefore, she declined to comment further.

Jusuf Hamka asked for assistance from Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, to follow up on the debt payment.

"Mr. Mahfud, don't bury the private sector. The government also gives debt to the private sector," he said.

Source: Merdeka.com and Liputan6.com