Goldman Sachs files US$1b countersuit against Indonesian businessman

[JAKARTA] Goldman Sachs filed a US$1 billion counter lawsuit on Tuesday against an Indonesian businessman who is seeking damages from the US bank for conducting what he called "unlawful" trades in the shares of a property firm.

Benny Tjokrosaputro, president director of Indonesian property developer PT Hanson International Tbk, filed a lawsuit in a Jakarta court on Sept 8 against Goldman's unit, Goldman Sachs International.

Mr Tjokrosaputro, who says that he owned the 425 million Hanson shares that Goldman traded, is seeking 15 trillion rupiah (S$1.56 billion) in compensation from Goldman Sachs International and wants its assets frozen in Indonesia and overseas.

Goldman had said in response that Goldman Sachs International was the legal owner of the Hanson shares.

Goldman filed the counterclaim for "the reputational damage and negative business impact" that Mr Tjokrosaputro's actions had caused, it said in a statement.

Mr Tjokrosaputro's lawyer Nadia Saphira Ganie declined to comment, saying the team needed to study the counterclaim.

REUTERS