On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs issued a $1 billion countersuit against Indonesian businessman Benny Tjokrosaputro. Tjokrosaputro, director of PT Hanson International Tbk, an Indonesian property developer, originally filed a suit against the company in September. The suit was filed in September in a Jakarta court and sought $1.1 billion in compensation from Goldman Sachs International for trading 425 million shares of Hanson. Tjokrosaputro also demands that Goldman Sach’s local and international assets be frozen.
Citibank was named as a co-defendant in the suit, as a custodian bank for Goldman Sachs International.
Tjokrosaputro seeks damages for alleged “unlawful trades in the shares of the property firm. Goldman Sachs responded that the shares were originally bought in a series of “valid” transactions from Platinum Partners, a New York hedge fund. These transactions, the U.S. bank claimed, took place on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), from February 2015 to March 2016.
Platinum Partners declined to comment on the dispute between the two parties. In December, top executives from the hedge fund were arrested and charged with running a $1 billion fraud scheme.
In the counterclaim against Tjokrosaputro, Goldman states that the business man’s suit had a “repetitional and negative business impact” of “at least 15 trillion rupiah in immaterial damages,” equivalent to $1.1 billion. According to the documents, Tjokraputro had also damaged the bank’s reputation by putting out newspaper advertisements. “Potential clients that could have wanted to do a transaction or conduct a business relationship with our client might have held themselves back as a result,” said Goldman lawyer Harjon Sinaga.
Last June, Tjokrosaputro filed a complaint with the Jakarta police, according to the bank’s counterclaim documents, that alleged the Hanson shares had been “fraudulently” misused. Tjokrosaputro, as well as his lawyer Naida Saphira Ganie declined to comment.
Goldman Sachs said in a statement, “If the challenge made against Goldman Sachs’ trades by Mr. Tjokrosaputro in the South Jakarta District Court is upheld, investor confidence in all trades by all investors crossing the IDX could be eroded.” This warning comes after investor confidence took a hit due to the Indonesian government cutting ties with JPMorgan Chase & Co.
President Director of IDX Tito Sulistio said “at the moment, its a matter for the shareholder to resolve”.
