Spotlight on Indonesian tycoon Susilo Wonowidjojo after OCBC unit files police report
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OCBC NISP filed a police report alleging fraud involving 232 billion rupiah of troubled loans to a wig-making company.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Jeanette Tan
SINGAPORE – Over the weekend of Feb 4-5, news broke that OCBC Bank’s Indonesian branch had filed a police report against one of Indonesia’s top billionaires.
The case: A wig-making company owned by billionaire Susilo Wonowidjojo had been extended loans totalling more than one trillion rupiah (S$87.6 million) by Bank OCBC NISP and other lenders.
OCBC NISP filed a police report alleging fraud involving 232 billion rupiah of troubled loans to the wig company.
Who is Susilo Wonowidjojo?
Mr Wonowidjojo (also known by his Chinese name Cai Daoping) is well known in Indonesia and is listed by Forbes as the country’s 14th-richest man, with an estimated net worth of US$3.5 billion (S$4.6 billion), down from US$9.2 billion four years earlier.
The 66-year-old is owner and president-director of tobacco giant Gudang Garam, which was founded by his father Surya. Mr Susilo Wonowidjojo has been president-director since 2009. His sister Juni Setiawati is president-commissioner, while son Indra Gunawan was appointed vice-president-director in June 2022.
How was the family’s wealth built?
The Wonowidjojos migrated to Indonesia from China and settled in East Java in 1927. Their family fortune comes from the success of the listed firm, founded in 1958 by Mr Surya Wonowidjojo (whose Chinese name is Cai Yunhui), who initially entered the industry by working in his uncle’s tobacco business.
Mr Susilo Wonowidjojo’s eldest brother, Mr Rachman Halim, took the helm some 25 years later, and ran the company until he died in 2008. Susilo, who is Mr Surya Wonowidjojo’s third son, took over from his late brother as president-director in 2009.
How big is Gudang Garam?
Gudang Garam was listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange in 1990. It is one of Indonesia’s top clove cigarette (kretek) makers, commanding 20 per cent of the market.
The group’s empire includes construction and toll road development and other infrastructure business, such as Dhoho Airport in Kediri, East Java.
Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of clove cigarettes, exporting up to US$500 million of the product a year and employing 10 million in the industry. THE BUSINESS TIMES
