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Tommy Suharto
Photo: Central Aceh Regency Government, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons13

Tommy Suharto

Indonesian businessman and politician (born 1962)

Hutomo Mandala Putra (born 15 July 1962), commonly known as Tommy Suharto, is an Indonesian businessman and politician. The youngest son of Suharto, the second President of Indonesia, he has long had a reputation of nepotism and corruption.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Tommy Suharto (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jul 15, 1962.1

About

Following the end of his father's regime, he gained notoriety for orchestrating the assassination of a judge who convicted him of corruption. He was convicted of murder in 2002 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, but was paroled in under four years.

Since 2020, he has been involved in a leadership dispute with Muchdi Purwopranjono over control of the Berkarya Party.

From Wikipedia’s article on Tommy Suharto, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

Tommy was born in Jakarta on 15 July 1962, the fifth child of Major-General Suharto and Siti Hartinah, better known as Ibu (Mrs) Tien. His siblings are Siti Hardiyanti Astuti 'Tutut' Rukmana, Sigit Harjojudanto, Bambang Trihatmodjo, Siti 'Titiek' Hediati and Siti Hutami 'Mamiek' Endang Adiningsih.

His middle name comes from the Indonesian military's Mandala Command for the Liberation of West Irian (Komando Mandala Pembebasan Irian Barat), which was formed in January 1962 and led by Major-General Suharto with the aim of removing the Dutch from the territory of Netherlands New Guinea (West Papua). Suharto wrote in his autobiography that Tommy's middle name served as a reminder of the Mandala assignment.

On 27 September 1965, when he was three years old, Tommy suffered injuries from boiling water to his face and body. He had been playing with his younger sister Mamiek in the family's house on Jalan Haji Agus Salim in Central Jakarta when he ran into his mother, who was carrying into the dining room a pot of boiling hot oxtail soup, which washed over Tommy. His mother immediately applied a cod liver salve to his blistered skin. He was rushed to the Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital in nearby Senen neighborhood. For the next three nights, Suharto visited Tommy at the hospital.

The timing of this injury is significant in the context of Indonesian history because on the night of 30 September 1965, an abortive coup attempt was launched by elements of the military, shooting dead six generals at about 4 am on 1 October. Before the killings took place, Suharto was still at the hospital. At about midnight, Tien urged Suharto to return home to check on Mamiek, who had been left with a servant. He went home about 12.15 am and went to bed and was awoken at about 4.30 am by news of the shootings. Tommy and his mother left the hospital on the afternoon of 1 October, accompanied by Suharto's half-brother Probosutedjo and aide-de-camp (ADC) Wahyudi. Tommy and his siblings were then moved to the ADC’s residence in Kebayoran Baru, as it was considered safer.

After completing junior high school in Jakarta, Tommy studied at the Civil Aviation Academy. He then went to the United States to study agriculture but did not complete his studies. He returned to Indonesia to start his business career.

It has often been said that Tommy was the favorite son of the family. Tien’s 1992 authorized biography states, "What sets Tommy apart from his elder brothers Sigit and Bambang, is that he has a more agile disposition. Tommy, who sports a mustache, is never without his RayBan sunglasses. At 28 years of age, he is the splitting [sic] image of his father. Deep in his heart, he cherishes great admiration for his mother."

As a young man, Tommy was known for his fondness for actresses, nightclubs and casinos. Time magazine in 1999 alleged that Tommy loved gambling and thought nothing of losing $1 million in a single sitting.

From Wikipedia’s article on Tommy Suharto (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: socialite, racing driver.5

In 1984, at age 22, he founded the Humpuss Group. With $100,000 of seed capital and within 10 weeks of its founding his group had 20 subsidiaries, which later grew to 60. The Humpuss Group initially focused on energy transportation, particularly LNG (liquefied natural gas). The company grew rapidly, relying on its shipping fleet and expanding into other business sectors such as petrochemicals, agribusiness, and property. Under Tommy Soeharto's leadership, the Humpuss Group was known for its aggressive diversification strategy. Tommy directed the company to enter various strategic sectors, capitalizing on opportunities in both domestic and international markets. Its primary focus was energy transportation, which remains one of the company's key strengths, through PT Humpuss Intermoda Transportasi Tbk. The fact that Tommy was no longer a member of the government after Soeharto's fall significantly impacted Humpuss' business. Several major government-backed projects stalled, and the company had to adapt its business strategy to survive.

Oil

In 1985, Tommy acquired a 65% stake in Perta Oil Marketing, a subsidiary of state oil and gas company Pertamina. He and his older brother Bambang Trihatmodjo received commissions of $0.30 to $0.35 a barrel. Perta brought in profits of $1 million per month.

Tommy and Bambang were alleged by a former business associate to have imposed "unofficial markups on oil exports and imports, reaping up to $200 million a year in the 1980s."

Read more

Sempati Air

In 1989, Tommy and Suharto associate Bob Hasan bought PT Sempati Air Transport from a military company. In the 1990s, Sempati Air (as it was renamed) flew wealthy Indonesians to a popular gambling resort on Australia's Christmas Island. The resort's main investor, Robby Sumanpow, was the marketing director of Tommy's clove monopoly. Sempati Air folded in 1998 during the financial crisis. When Suharto was charged in 2000 with corruption over the misuse of funds from charitable foundations, the indictment stated that Sempati Air had received Rp 17.91 billion from Dakab foundation, Rp 13.17 billion from Supersemar foundation and Rp 11.168 billion from Dharmais foundation.

Merak Toll Road

In 1989, Tommy formed a consortium, Marga Mandala Sakti (MMS), which lost a bid to his sister Tutut’s company to build Jakarta’s north harbor toll road, the North-South Link. MMS was however awarded the right to extend the Jakarta-Tangerang expressway another 73 km to the busy seaport of Merak. Humpuss constructed the toll road over 1992 to 1996. Tommy’s concession was in 1996 extended by 10 years to 2011. A consortium of foreign investors in late 1996 or early 1997 paid about Rp 425 billion ($181 million) for a majority stake in MMS.

Clove monopoly

In December 1990, Tommy established a clove trading monopoly, the Clove Support and Trading Board (BPPC), despite opposition from clove cigarette manufacturers. Under a Trade Ministry regulation, all local cigarette manufacturers were forced to buy from BPPC, which also controlled clove imports from other countries. A subsequent investigation found that Tommy forced clove farmers to sell at reduced prices and then sold the cloves to the cigarette industry at inflated prices. While Tommy profited, many clove farmers went bankrupt. The monopoly was dismantled in 1998 as part of the International Monetary Fund's package to bail out the Indonesian economy.

In July 2007, Tommy was named a suspect in a 175 billion rupiah corruption case involving BPPC. Then-attorney general Hendarman Supandji said Tommy misused loan money given to the agency to buy cloves from farmers. Tommy denied wrongdoing. In 2008, the Attorney General's Office dropped the case on the grounds that Tommy had repaid the money.

Lamborghini

In 1994, Tommy's Bermuda-registered company Megatech, which is co-owned by Malaysian firm Mycom Setdco, purchased Italian sports car maker Lamborghini from Chrysler Corp. for $40 million. Megatech sold Lamborghini to Audi AG for $110 million during Indonesia's 1998 financial crisis.

Timor

In February 1996, president Suharto announced Indonesia's "National Car" policy, in which a company intending to produce a national car would be exempted from duties and luxury tax, and tariffs on imported spare parts. The only company allowed to benefit from the policy was Tommy's newly created PT Timor Putra Nasional. Japan, the US and the European Union complained to the World Trade Organization that Indonesia had violated WTO rules on equal treatment. Tommy was allowed to import 45,000 fully built Kia Sephia cars from South Korea and rebadged them as Timor cars.

In July 1997, state and private banks were encouraged by the government to provide a $650 million loan to Tommy to build a national car factory. On 23 September 1997, in response to the Asian Financial Crisis, Finance Minister Mar’ie Muhammad halted fifteen "mega" projects, but the Timor national car was absent from the list, prompting claims it was "untouchable". In January 1998, Suharto ended the Timor's tax breaks in line with reforms imposed by the IMF. Timor showrooms were subsequently targeted in the 13–15 May 1998 riots that precipitated Suharto's resignation.

The debts of PT Timor Putra Nasional (TPN) held by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency amounted to Rp4.2 trillion. Tommy's Humpuss Group allegedly sponsored a company named PT Vista Bella to buy back TPN's debts on 30 April 2003 for Rp 512 billion, although under the sale agreement, the purchaser cannot be affiliated with the original owner.

The Finance Ministry and state-owned Bank Mandiri in January 2005 froze a TPN account containing some Rp 1.3 trillion as collateral against the Rp 4.2 trillion that Timor owed to Bank Mandiri. Tommy responded by suing Mandiri and the Finance Ministry. In November 2006, South Jakarta District Court ruled Timor the rightful owner of the Rp 1.3 trillion in the Bank Mandiri account. In November 2007, Jakarta High Court annulled the lower court's ruling. On 28 August 2008, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated that Bank Mandiri had been directed to transfer Rp1.23 trillion (US$134 million) of funds owned by TPN to a government account.

Tommy appealed twice to the Supreme Court, which on 13 December 2017 rejected his second appeal. The judgment was not sent to the court until 4 July 2018 and was not reported by the Indonesian media until January 2020, when the government announced it was entitled to the frozen funds.

Previously, the Finance Ministry had filed a graft case alleging Tommy illegally sold assets from Timor to five of his companies. Tommy responded by filing a US$21.8 million countersuit against the ministry. He won a separate US$61 million civil corruption case in February 2008, receiving US$550,000 in a countersuit.

Explosives companies

PT Bina Reksa Perdana, in which Tommy was a majority shareholder, in the 1990s received a monopoly on the export of explosives made by state-owned explosives company PT Dahana. In partnership with Singapore's Chartered Oiltech Services, the company developed an explosives factory in Tasikmalaya, West Java, to make commercial explosives for export to countries such as Myanmar, Iraq, India and Australia.

Under Presidential Decree No. 86/1994 and Presidential Decree No. 14/1997, only two companies, PT Multi Nitroma Kimia and PT Tridaya Esta, were allowed to sell Dahana’s explosives for commercial use. The two companies were linked to Tommy and his brother Bambang Trihatmodjo.

1997–1998 financial crisis and debt

After the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis, the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) stated that Humpuss Group was the third largest debtor of irrecoverable loans from domestic banks, mostly from state banks, with a total debt of Rp 5.7 trillion in 2001. This was 2.5 times Humpuss Group’s annual sales in 1996. Of the total irrecoverable debt, more than half had been borrowed by PT Timor Putra Nasional. The debt was partly repaid to IBRA in assets, and some was later settled through debt restructuring schemes and debt-to-equity swaps.

Mangkuluhur City

In 2014, construction commenced of Mangkuluhur City, which Tommy is developing with businessman Harry Gunawan. The project comprises four skyscrapers and a high-rise building on Jalan Jenderal Gatot Subroto in Jakarta, Indonesia. The tallest of the towers will be 80 stories. Two of the towers are for office space, while the other two are for residential and serviced apartments. The existing Crowne Plaza hotel is part of the development. A Regent Hotel is also being developed at the site and was scheduled to open at the end of 2020 with nightly rates starting from Rp 3.5 million. This company oversees PT. Intra GolfLink Resorts alias IGR, which also has four subsidiaries, including PT Sentul Golf Utama which manages Palm Hills Golf Club Bogor, PT New Kuta Golf And Ocean View which manages New Kuta Golf Ball, PT Belitung Golf And Resorts which manages Black Rocks Hotel & Golf Belitung, and PT New Kuta Condotel which operates in the property and tourism sectors.

Humpuss Junior Racing Team

The Humpuss Junior Racing Team is an Indonesian racing team affiliated with the Humpuss Group, a conglomerate owned by Tommy Soeharto. The team focuses on developing young Indonesian racing talent, particularly in Formula One racing. Darma Mangkuluhur Hutomo, Tommy Soeharto's son, is a key figure associated with the team.

Career statistics

Complete Indonesian Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

From Wikipedia’s article on Tommy Suharto (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornJul 15, 1962, Indonesia6
  • CitizenshipIndonesia7
  • ResidenceMenteng8
  • SpouseArdhia Pramesti Regita Cahyani9
  • Children310 11

Wealth

Time magazine in 1999 put Tommy's wealth at $800 million. In 2016, Tommy was listed 56th on GlobeAsia magazine's list of 150 richest Indonesians, with wealth of $655 million.

In September 2016, Tommy joined the government's tax amnesty program, in which tax cheats were rewarded with a tax rate of just 2–4% on assets previously hidden from authorities. Tommy declined to reveal how much tax he paid or the amount of assets he declared, but noted that most of them are abroad.

In the early 1990s, Tommy was in a relationship with singer Maya Rumantir and there was speculation they would be married. Tommy’s mother reportedly objected to the relationship because Maya is a Christian of Chinese-Manado heritage, whereas Tommy is a Javanese Muslim, so his parents preferred him to marry someone of Javanese royal lineage. In 2001, police questioned Maya during their search for Tommy when he was a fugitive. She denied hiding him. Tommy was also romantically linked to actress Nia Zulkarnaen, but Tommy's parents reportedly disapproved of the relationship.

On 28 April 1996, Tommy's mother died after a heart attack following a family dinner. Jakarta’s rumor mill speculated that Tommy and his brother Bambang had been arguing over the national car policy, and one of them fired a shot that hit their mother. The persistent rumor was denied by former National Police chief Sutanto (a presidential aide in 1996) in the 2011 book Pak Harto The Untold Stories. Bambang also dismissed the rumor as "communist slander".

At the age of 34, Tommy married 22-year-old Ardhia Pramesti Regita Cahyani, better known as 'Tata', on 30 April 1997 at At-Tin Mosque at Taman Mini recreation park. Tata is from royal lineage of Mangkunegaran principality of Surakarta. They have two children: Dharma Mangkuluhur and Radhyana Gayanti Hutami. On 15 May 2006, Tata filed for divorce and moved to Singapore. They were divorced in September 2006.

In 2017, one of Tommy's lawyers, Salim Muhammad, said that prior to going to jail, Tommy had given Tata 100 billion rupiah to look after their two children. He claimed the money disappeared with Tata without a trace, without Tommy's knowledge.

While on the run from the law in 2001, Tommy spent some of his time living with former model Lani Banjaranti. Lani in 2003 announced she had a 13-month-old son, Syalif Putrawan, fathered by Tommy.

When Tommy was jailed on Nusa Kambangan prison for murder, he received overnight visits from his girlfriend Sandy Harun. She later gave birth to a daughter fathered by Tommy, Marimbi Djodi Putri.

In 2009, Tommy was romantically linked to model Catherine Wilson, after she was invited to one of his resorts in Bali.

From Wikipedia’s article on Tommy Suharto (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Politics

Tommy, Tutut and Bambang joined Golkar, Suharto's political party, and in 1992 were installed as members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Following Suharto's May 1998 resignation, Golkar announced in July it had recalled Tommy, Tutut and Bambang from the MPR. Golkar officials in 2008 said they would not object to Suharto's children rejoining the party's board, provided they were not involved in any outstanding legal cases.

In 2009, Tommy sought to become Golkar chairman at the party's congress held in Riau province. His campaign associate Saurip Kadi said Tommy would provide Rp 50 billion (then equivalent to about $5 million) to each Golkar regional chapter if elected. However, businessman Aburizal Bakrie promised a fund of Rp 1 trillion and was elected chairman.

In May 2016, Tommy announced he would again run for the chairmanship of the Golkar, but he did not register for the race. In the same month, Tommy was named as a member of Golkar's Supervisory Board.

In 2016, Tommy formed the Berkarya Party, a merger of Beringin Karya Party and Nasional Republik Party.

In March 2017, Berkarya and another small party, Swara Rakyat Indonesia (Parsindo), announced they were supporting Tommy to run for the presidency in 2019. In May 2017, Tommy said he was saddened by the present condition of Indonesia because corruption is thriving in parliament. In October 2017, his lawyer denied Tommy was planning to run for office in 2019, saying fake accounts on social media were falsely claiming he had been endorsed by mass organizations. On 11 March 2018, Tommy was named chairman of Berkarya Party. Tommy said it was a coincidence that 11 March was also the date former president Sukarno signed the Supersemar document in 1966 giving Suharto political powers prior to him becoming President.

Read more

2019 Indonesian general election

In July 2018, Berkarya Party announced Tommy would be standing in the April 2019 general election as a candidate for the national legislature, representing Papua province. Berkarya secretary general Priyo Budi Santoso said Tommy chose Papua because he is fond of "the little people and marginalized areas".

In the opinion of Ed Davies and Agustinus Beo Costa, writing for Reuters, he sought to appeal to nostalgia about the unity and security of his father's government.

Tommy criticised President Joko Widodo's infrastructure development policy, saying it had caused Indonesia's foreign debt to rise to $340 billion, compared to $54 billion when Suharto was president.

Under Indonesian law, former prisoners who were sentenced to five years or more in jail cannot run for President, however, in 2018, Tommy said "There is not a single witness who testified against me in the trial. The verdict was indeed very harsh. I have served my term. According to the law, I now have the same rights as anyone else."

After obtaining 2.09% of votes and losing the 2019 general election, the party filed 35 appeals to the Constitutional Court. All were either revoked or rejected.

From Wikipedia’s article on Tommy Suharto (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

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