Canadian life insurer Manulife Financial is seeking diplomatic help to secure the release of a senior executive detained by Indonesian police as part of an investigation into the company's move to boost its stake in its local joint venture.
The investigation arose after Manulife, the largest foreign insurer in Indonesia, bought 40 per cent of Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia on October 27 in a government-approved deal worth about US$20 million.
The deal, which followed a successful bid for the stake at an auction administered by the Government Auction House of Indonesia's Ministry of Finance, raised Manulife's stake in the joint venture to 91 per cent.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank subsidiary, holds the remaining 9 per cent.
The shares were offered for sale by the receiver of bankrupt Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera (DSS) - a unit of the Dharmala Group.
In an interview yesterday with Business Post, Manulife Financial's general manager for Asia, Victor Apps, said that several days after the deal was struck, the company's general counsel for Asia, Mitchell New, and vice-president director of Manulife Indonesia, Adi Purnomo Wijaya, were barred by police from leaving the country.