ARMS seeks to seize assets of Rosan Roeslani

By Romel S. Gurky

LSE-listed Asia Resource Minerals plc (ARMS) said Wednesday it was taking action to enforce the recent Singapore arbitration award against Rosan Roeslani.

Under the rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the award is final and cannot be appealed, ARMS said in a statement. In accordance with those rules, Roeslani is obliged to comply with the award "without delay". Accordingly, the company's lawyers wrote to Roeslani's lawyers requesting confirmation that Roeslani intends to satisfy his obligations. ?No response has been received,? the statement said.

ARMS announced late last year it has won the arbitration proceeding against Roeslani, former president director of coal mining firm PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk, in which ARMS holds more than 80 percent stake.

ARMS, formerly known as Bumi Plc, decided in December of 2013 to go through an arbitration process in Singapore to settle dispute over $173 million worth of funds it claimed to be owed by Roeslani.

ARMS said in the statement that under the New York Convention, the award is capable of being registered and enforced in over 150 countries. The company said it has conducted an extensive investigation into assets personally held by Roeslani prior to commencing the arbitration and is, therefore, in a position to register and then enforce the award against those assets in the relevant jurisdiction. The nature of the enforcement actions depends upon the procedural rules in each jurisdiction.

The company and PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk have therefore taken the following initial steps:
1. the award is being registered in Singapore in order to permit enforcement against Roeslani's shares in Recapital Investments Pte Ltd, a Singapore company in which over 99% of the shares are held by Roeslani;
2. the award is being registered in France and Luxembourg. This should enable the current attachment orders against two chateaux ultimately owned by Roeslani to become final orders, so that the assets can be sold in order to realize value in due course;
3. the Company and Berau are filing a confirmation petition in the US Federal Court in respect of the award. Roeslani is believed to own a substantial and valuable property in California; and
4. the award is being registered in Indonesia, where the remainder of Roeslani's assets are understood to be held. It can then be enforced in Indonesia in the same way as a judgment of the Indonesian court.

The timelines for enforcement will vary in each jurisdiction and depend on whether Roeslani attempts to challenge enforcement.

ARMS said it deplores the fact that Roeslani shows no sign of being prepared to meet his obligations under the Singapore arbitration award. ?He agreed that any issues under the Settlement Deed should be resolved by arbitration and he ought to respect the decision that has been made by the arbitration tribunal.?

However, the company and Berau anticipated the possibility that Roeslani would simply ignore his obligations and are therefore implementing their strategy to enforce the award. ?This strategy will be pursued as vigorously but as cost effectively as possible, even though the recovery process may take many months (or longer if Roeslani attempts to avoid enforcement),? ARMS said.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak