By Ben Otto and I Made Sentana
JAKARTA--Indonesian police on Wednesday confirmed for the first
time that the Bakrie Group filed an official complaint alleging
hacking at its companies preceding the proposed divorce between
London-listed Bumi PLC (BUMI.LN VLLRF) and the Bakrie Group, which
have joint interests in Indonesian mining assets.
The police disclosure to Dow Jones Newswires supports the Bakrie
Group's earlier assertions that it has sought an official
investigation into alleged hacking of computers and electronic
systems at its companies.
The conglomerate's claims triggered a round of finger pointing
and accusations of bad faith in the long-running Bumi PLC drama,
which culminated with the resignation of key Bumi PLC shareholder
Nat Rothschild on Monday.
Bumi PLC owns 29% in Indonesia's largest coal miner, the
Bakrie-controlled Bumi Resources (BUMI.JK). After a series of
public disagreements over corporate governance at Bumi Resources,
Bumi PLC and the Bakrie Group are close to parting ways, with
Bakrie offering to buy back the Indonesian mining assets held by
Bumi PLC.
A police spokesman declined to comment further on Wednesday.
Such cases are normally sent to the National Police's Cyber Crimes
Unit, which was unavailable for comment.
The Bakrie Group's announcement of hacking, in which company
officials said telephones had been hacked, emails opened and
sensitive documents moved and deleted, came just ahead of a meeting
of Bumi PLC's board in Singapore on Oct. 11. The meeting was the
board's first since announcing a probe into the Bakrie-controlled
PT Bumi Resources (BUMI.JK) last month.
Last week, the Bakrie Group said it had filed a report to the
National Police's Cyber Crimes Unit alleging security breaches in
its companies over a recent period of days or weeks.
Police documents seen by Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday showed
that a report was made to the National Police's Criminal
Investigation Agency on Oct. 11 on behalf of Bumi Resources.
The records showed that Fuad Helmy, a director at another Bakrie
company, PT Bumi Resources Minerals (BRMS.JK), filed the report.
The metals miner is majority controlled by Bumi Resources.
Write to Ben Otto at ben.otto@dowjones.com and I Made Sentana at
i-made.sentana@dowjones.com.
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