Jakarta. A panel of judges at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday ordered media tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo and his company MNC Asia Holding to pay $28 million in damages, plus interest, to toll road operator Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada in a long-running dispute over a problematic securities exchange.

The case dates back to 1999, when Hary offered to exchange a $28 million negotiable certificate of deposit (NCD) issued by Unibank for CMNP-owned medium-term notes worth Rp 163.5 billion and bonds worth Rp 189 billion, whose combined value was broadly equivalent at the prevailing exchange rate.

At current rates, $28 million is worth approximately Rp 481.5 billion.

However, when CMNP attempted to redeem the NCD on Aug. 22, 2002, the transaction could not be processed because Unibank had been liquidated in October 2001.

CMNP argued that Hary remained responsible because the NCD had been issued in his name.

After the dispute remained unresolved for years, CMNP last year filed a lawsuit seeking nearly Rp 120 trillion ($6.97 billion at current exchange rates) in material and immaterial damages from Hary Tanoesoedibjo and MNC Group.

In its ruling, the court, led by presiding judge Fajar Kusuma Aji, ordered Hary and MNC to pay material damages of $28 million together with annual interest of 6%, calculated from May 9, 2002, until the obligation is fully settled.

The court also awarded Rp 50 billion in immaterial damages.

Previously, prominent lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea, representing Hary Tanoesoedibjo, argued that Unibank as the issuer of the NCD -- not his client -- should bear responsibility for the matter.

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