Tomy Winata: Pauluss Conflict Is Not Directly Linked to My Son

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Indonesian tycoon Tomy Winata, who leads the Artha Graha conglomerate, has denied that problems faced by another tycoon, Paulus Tannos, with the electronic identification card (e-KTP) megaproject is directly linked to Tomys son, Andi Winata. "Pauluss problem is with Oxel Systems Ltd. My son works there," he told Ananda Badudu from Tempo Thursday of last week. When contacted, the tycoon said he was in Bangkok. Tomy says that he does not really wish to be involved in what is between his son and Paulus. "My son is old enough to handle this problem," he said.Currently residing in Singapore with his immediate family, Paulus is currently on the Interpol wanted list after police reports were reportedly filed in Jakarta by Andi and his business colleague, Jack Budiman, against Paulus Tannos. The police complaint reports refer to allegations that Paulus failed to keep his end of a business deal linked to the Rp 5.8 trillion project. According to the reports, Paulus and Andi had a deal with Andi would through his connections provide STMicro semiconductor chips at a cost, to be fitted into the e-KTP cards, which will eventually replace ID cards across the nation. When Tempo met with Paulus in Singapore, he said that he refused to pay for chips that were unusable. Paulus is the owner of Sandipala Arthaputra, a company which prints letters with a special security seal that had won the project from the Home Ministry. He and four other companies are part of the Republic of Indonesia Printing consortium that will print 172 million cards.Paulus teamed up with Andi Winata to provide ST-Micro chips for the e-KTP project. Oxel System Company Ltd., owned by Andi, is the sole agent in Indonesia for this brand of chips.Apparently the cooperation hits a snag. Accompanied by Jack, Andi reported Paulus to the Police Headquarters on charges of deception and embezzling funds in March and April. Andis and Jacks report to the Police negatively impacted Paulus. Since June 6, his name and his daughters name, Catherine Tannos, have been displayed in the list of fugitives in the Interpol website. Today, Paulus and his family are hiding in Singapore. MUNAWWAROH | ANANDA BADUDU