James Riady
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James Riady (far right) with Bill Clinton in 1996
James Riady is the deputy chairman of the Lippo Group, a major Indonesian conglomerate. He is the son of Mochtar Riady, founder of the group. The group has recently signed an agreement with Khazanah of Malaysia to relinquish its majority stake in Lippo Bank. James is now focusing on the study of theology.
He was a major campaign contributor to the Democratic Party in the USA during Bill Clinton's presidency, and was a regular visitor to the White House. According to the Washington Post, Riady's relationship with Clinton stemmed from the early 1980s, when James's father bought a minority interest in the Arkansas-based Worthen Bank. Mochtar Riady sent James to learn the banking business in Little Rock. Soon after arriving, James was introduced to then-Governor Clinton at a Worthen luncheon. In 1998, the Republican Party controlled United States Senate accused him of having links with a Chinese government intelligence agency. In 2001 he pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to campaign finance violations by himself and his corporation. He was ordered to pay an 8.6 million U.S. dollar fine for contributing foreign funds to the Democratic Party, the largest fine ever levied in a campaign finance case.["The Democratic Fund-Raising Flap: Cast of Characters"], CNN.com, July 1, 1997["Clinton Donor Pleads Guilty"], CBSNews.com, March 20, 2001[James Riady Pleads Guilty], Department of Justice, press release, Jan. 11, 2001Woodward, Bob, ["Findings Link Clinton Allies to Chinese Intelligence"], Washington Post, Feb. 10, 1998
Evangelical Activities
Since converting to Christianity, James has been an avid evangelical. He established foundations, charities and Christian-inspired schools to spread the message in Muslim-majority Indonesia. Inevitably, his zeal clashed with Islam fundamentalists in the country. On 23 July 2001, Fortune published an interview with the Lippo director in which he espoused his vision of converting poor villages to Christianity. The 2nd biggest Muslim organization in Indonesia, the 28 million strong Muhammadiyah, quickly assembled mass protests and demonstrations against him.Arts Interests
James is a serious collector of paintings and is known to have spent millions of dollars for a single work of art that he likes. Part of his vast collection can be seen on display in the UPH Painting Museum located on the 3rd floor of Matahari Towers in Lippo Karawaci. It stores more than 700 paintings by both prominent national and international painters including Raden Saleh, Affandi, A. Sudjono, Barli, Wakidi, A.D. Pirous, Widayat, Zaini, Srihadi Soedarsono, Agus Djaya, Trubus, Mochtar Apin, Sudjana Kerton, Ivan Sagito, But Mochtar, Hendra Gunawan, Dede Eri Supria, Nasiah Djamin, Walter Speis, R. Bommet, Willem Dooijewaard, J.D. Van Herwerden, etc.See also
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External links
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