Vaudine England – Finding seizable assets in Mr Suharto's own name may prove difficult for investigators.

During an official probe in 1998, Mr Suharto said he had 22 billion rupiah (HK$24.2 million) deposited in three private banks and that his personal property included two houses in Jakarta and five hectares of land.

That investigation, carried out by the government of Bacharuddin Habibie, a Suharto protege, was later closed because of a claimed lack of evidence.

Earlier official and independent investigations have determined that Mr Suharto owns relatively little, with most of the family's wealth in his children's names.

"If the Government were serious about recovering some of that money, then it should sequester their wealth and property here and abroad," the Jakarta Post noted in an April 17 editorial.

The family's presumed wealth ranges up to the US$15 billion quoted in a Time magazine article, now subject to a legal suit by Mr Suharto. But calculating the liquid benefits of a lifetime of unrivalled access to government instruments in the pursuit of riches remains difficult.