Swiss authorities target Indonesian president-elect’s family

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Swiss authorities have stepped up action against the family of Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto over outstanding tax dues owed by the new leader’s brother and influential tycoon, Hashim Djojohadikusumo.

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled Geneva authorities could seize bank accounts that were opened over two decades ago in the name of Hashim and his wife Anie — holding a combined amount of nearly $500,000 — in an effort to recover tax dues, according to a recently published judgment.

The seizure is part of a decades-long effort by Swiss authorities to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from the couple who incurred the dues when they lived in Geneva for over seven years from the late 1990s. As of April 2024, the couple was jointly liable for SFr131.2mn ($154.2mn), according to the Canton of Geneva.

The developments in Switzerland come just as Prabowo is set to take over the Indonesian presidency in less than a month. Hashim, 70, is one of Prabowo’s closest advisers and an influential businessman with interests across mining, agriculture and renewable energy. 

Hashim and Anie have argued that they could not pay the tax dues because they were insolvent, having spent hundreds of millions of dollars bailing out Prabowo’s business and funding his election campaigns. They also argued they were divorced, in what was seen by the courts as a claim to get out of tax obligations. The Swiss federal court, in a December 2023 judgment, dismissed claims of insolvency and separation.

The bank accounts are the second group of assets belonging to Hashim’s family that Swiss authorities have targeted. Geneva officials in April auctioned off two luxury villas owned in the name of Anie in the affluent town of Anières for SFr12.3mn. 

The three accounts were first opened by Hashim and his wife in late 2001/early 2002. Their three children — the nephew and nieces of president-elect Prabowo — were listed as beneficial owners of the accounts, according to a Federal Supreme Court decision that was made public in September.

The bank, which is not named in the documents, had received instructions prohibiting it from informing the children, who were then minors, of the existence of the accounts or giving them access. Hashim and Anie had told the bank they intended to transfer the funds to a new set of accounts in the name of their children when they reached the age of 25. However, no such transfer occurred, according to the judgment. 

The funds deposited in the accounts came from Hashim’s personal and family fortune, according to the court filings. 

The accounts were provisionally seized by Geneva tax authorities in 2010. The children appealed, claiming that the fact that each of them was listed as a beneficial owner of the respective bank accounts meant that the Swiss authorities should not be able to seize the funds.  

The supreme court sided with the lower courts, which had argued that even though the three children were named as beneficial owners of the accounts, the “disputed funds came from the fortune” of their father and none of them had provided any proof that the assets had been transferred to them, or that they had any control over the bank accounts.  

Aryo Djojohadikusumo, the eldest of the three children, is the chief executive of a tin mining company that is part of Hashim’s Arsari Group. Rahayu Djojohadikusumo is the deputy chair of her uncle Prabowo’s political party, Gerindra, and is a former lawmaker. Sitie Djojohadikusumo is director of finance and treasury at Arsari. The Swiss court verdicts are anonymised, but details provided in the court documents match the family’s description. 

Neither Hashim, his family nor the president-elect’s office responded to requests for comment. Arsari also did not respond to a request for comment.

In an interview with the Financial Times in July, Hashim said the Swiss authorities were being “very, very unreasonable” and that he would continue fighting the tax case. The seizure of the bank accounts was first reported by Gotham City, a Swiss investigative online news outlet.