HMS Criticizes BLBI Task Force's Claim Regarding Asset Confiscation Of Rp19 Trillion: Too Bombastic, It Doesn't Reflect Its Real Value

JAKARTA - The Secretary General of the Movement for Turning on Prosperous Communities (HMS) Hardjuno Wiwoho strongly criticized the claims of the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance Task Force (BLBI) which had confiscated obligors' land assets with a value of Rp19 trillion. This is because the value of the confiscated assets does not reflect the actual value because it has shrunk.

Therefore, he asked to stop the statement that seemed bombastic.

“The BLBI Task Force must remember that the National Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) made the same mistake in the past, namely that the estimated value of assets has been calculated as the value of debt payments. However, after the sale, it turned out that the cash value was only 5 percent of the estimate," said Hardjuno Wiwoho in the discussion "Unraveling the BLBI Tangles", in Jakarta, Sunday, April 3.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Moh. Mahfud MD said that since the BLBI Task Force was formed until now, it has managed to confiscate a number of assets and the value is close to Rp. 20 trillion.

"So far, the BLBI Task Force has managed to confiscate 19,988,942.35 square meters of land assets, which, when assessed in cash, are entirely conservative with an average calculation of Rp 19,134,633,815,293," he explained.

Hardjuno explained that the claim of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD that the Task Force had confiscated 19 million meters of obligor assets with an average value of IDR 19 trillion was a dangerous statement and had legal implications.

This is because the confiscated assets are not cash confiscations and have not yet been entered into the state treasury, so they cannot be counted. So if there are parties who claim that the value of the confiscated land is that much and it turns out that after the auction the value is far from the estimate, it can be called corruption because it is detrimental to the state.

"Remember that IBRA received the assets and then said the value was so much, the obligor's debt was paid off, given an SKL (Certificate of Settlement). It turned out that after being sold the value was only 5 percent of the estimate. Who is this responsible? It should be called corruption because it is a loss to the state, this is a fatal mistake that should not be repeated," said Hardjuno.

In essence, Hardjuno emphasized, the Task Force should never judge from the valuation of assets such as confiscated land, because the value could be marked up. What must be assessed is when the asset has been sold and the proceeds of the sale have been deposited into the state treasury as a return for state losses.

"So it's clear, yes, the claim figures for the BLBI Task Force that have succeeded in confiscating assets of Rp. 19.1 trillion are only estimates that tend to be empty. The confiscated lands that used to be claimed for Rp9.8 trillion and now adding more, we estimate that if auctioned the value is no more than Rp1-2 trillion," said Hardjuno.