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Singapore. The daughter of a wealthy Indonesian Japanese man is suing her stepmother over an estimated 80 million Singapore dollar ($66 million) worth of assets in Singapore.

Takako Murakami, 46, is continuing the legal tussle started by her father in 1995, when he took court action in Jakarta against Louise Maria Wiryadi, 71, to split matrimonial assets following their divorce.

He never saw that battle through, as he died in June the following year.

Murakami, as the executor of his estate, is now seeking to recover what she says is marital property.

She is going up against Wiryadi, her two stepbrothers Ryuji and Ryuzo, and Wiryadi's brother-in-law Bahari Sjamsjur in her claim for her father's half-share of a Faber Drive house, an Ardmore Park apartment, a Taman Serasi apartment and money in bank accounts which the Indonesian court had held to be marital assets in 2000.

Murakami is also claiming a half-share in two other properties and money in at least 15 bank accounts.

A 25-day hearing was scheduled to start in the High Court yesterday, but lawyers for both sides were in the judge's chambers the whole day, so the case was adjourned to tomorrow.

Murakami's father, Takashi Murakami Suroso, was a Japanese citizen who went to Indonesia towards the end of World War II.

Granted citizenship there, he worked his way up to senior management and advisory levels at Mitsubishi Corp, becoming very wealthy.

Murakami and her younger brother Takao are his children Madam Yu Yun Hwa, whom he did not marry.

After Yu's death, Wiryadi married Murakami in 1968. The union produced Ryuji and Ryuzo.

In 1993, Murakami made a will leaving his assets in Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and the United States to Murakami and her brother.

The following year, he and Wiryadi divorced.

In 1995, he started proceedings in Indonesia for the division of matrimonial property.

The case went into several rounds of appeal, but he died before its conclusion, leaving  Murakami to take over.

In 2000, the final judgment of the Supreme Court of Indonesia determined a list of assets in Indonesia, Japan, the US and Singapore as matrimonial assets; Wiryadi was to deliver half of them to Murakami.

Following this judgment, a string of legal actions were filed by the two sides in a number of countries, including Australia, Indonesia and here.

Murakami is represented by Edwin Tong.

The defendants are represented by Senior Counsel Andre Yeap and Adrian Wong.



Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.