A Lion Air airplane takes off at Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta, in this file picture taken March 18, 2013. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta/Files) |
Indonesian
airline Lion Air has been accused of extorting one of its Saudi Arabian
business partners.
“Our client
[invested] $18 million with Lion Air,” Guntur P. Daulay, businessman Miski Omar
Hassan’s lawyer, said at a press conference on Saturday.
“Because
our client maintained that there was no transparent business report delivered
by [Lion Air’s] management, our client demanded that he get his money back.
However, because the [the airline] couldn’t afford to return the funds, Lion
Air owner Rusdi Kirana put up $1.5 million of his own money.
“Later,
though, the money that was lent [by Rusdi] was said to have been embezzled by
our client,” Guntur continued.
Omar was
summoned by the Jakarta Police office on May 6 after missing two previous
summons.
“Our client
was unaware of the two previous summons because he was abroad at the time,”
Guntur said. “Then, on May 6, he was detained.”
On May 7, a
representative with Lion Air requested that Omar pay back the $1.5 million debt
to settle the conflict. The company also asked Omar to give up his assets and
his apartment if he could not afford to return the sum.
Omar, however,
refused to pay, and Guntur maintained that Lion Air is guilty of extorting his
client.
Edward
Sirait, the general affairs director of Lion Air, denied the accusation.
Edward
claimed that Omar is a travel agent who paid Lion Air a deposit to sell the
airline’s tickets. He also questioned how Omar could think that he would
receive a 100 percent return on his earlier investment.
Additionally,
he said that Omar should handle the matter of the investment separately from
the Rusdi Kirana loan.
“If it is
related to business, there has been an agreement between both parties. We’re
open to talking about the tickets and other [business related] matters. But the
$1.5 million is a different thing.”
Furthermore,
Edward accused Omar of running away after receiving the money.
“He had no
intention of returning the money … that’s why we reported him to the police.”
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