Indonesia looks into Suharto son's millions

JAKARTA, Jan 30 (Reuters) Indonesia is investigating whether millions of dollars deposited in a British territory by a son of former president Suharto were obtained illegally, officials said today.

Jakarta was drawn into the case after Garnet Investment -- a company owned by Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo ''Tommy'' Mandala Putra -- sued a branch of French bank BNP Paribas for refusing to release at least 36 million euros it had deposited.

A court in Guernsey, a British territory, has approved the Indonesian government's request to be a third party in the case, said Indonesia's ambassador to Britain, Marty Natalegawa.

The next proceeding will take place on March 8 when ''the Indonesian government will substantiate its position'', he told Reuters by telephone from London.

The government suspects the money was obtained through corruption, said Salman Maryadi, the spokesman for the attorney general's office.

He said a team had been set up by the attorney general's office to make a case for the government.

Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh said he had evidence that Tommy opened the account at BNP Paribas shortly after his father resigned as president amid civil unrest in May 1998, according to The Jakarta Post.

''BNP Paribas assumed the money in the bank was obtained through corruption here,'' he was quoted by the Post.

Tommy's lawyers could not be reached for comment.

Tommy, 44, was conditionally released from jail last October, after serving a third of his original sentence for plotting the murder of a Supreme Court judge who had convicted him in a graft case.

His early release drew fire from critics who said it showed undue leniency and favouritism for the powerful.

Tommy, like other Suharto children, became one of the country's super-rich businessmen during the rule of his father.

Some of his businesses had been linked to political influence -- such as a monopoly on highly lucrative clove distribution and a national car project.

Suharto senior, who resigned amid civil unrest after more than 30 years of iron-fisted rule, was charged with graft but escaped prosecution as courts accepted medical statements he was too ill to stand trial.

The former president and family members deny any wrongdoing.

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