Bakries dispute documents in Bumi probe Documents used as the basis for an investigation into alleged financial irregularity at mining companies part-owned by Bumi, the London-listed group, were stolen, hacked or doctored or all three, says the Indonesian family at the heart of the scandal. The Bakrie family, which owns 23 per cent of the shares in Bumi plc, told the Financial Times on Sunday that the information that triggered the probe "originated from a fabricated source and packaged to give the impression that they were real, which was not the case." Macfarlanes, a London law firm, is investigating allegations made by an anonymous whistleblower of irregularities at Bumi's two holdings, Jakarta-listed coal miners Bumi Resources, which the Bakries control, and Berau Coal Energy. Bumi plc was scheduled to inform the market of the results of the preliminary report later this week. Indra Bakrie, one of three brothers that runs the family's diversified conglomerate, resigned as co-chairman of Bumi plc and from the board last week, citing that "the initial objective of the Bakrie Group in pursuing a London listing had not been met." The Bakries" statement continued: "Documents used as the basis of the Macfarlanes preliminary report were, in some cases, stolen and/or the subject of illegal hacking. These documents appear then to have been "doctored" to give a purposely misleading impression of a number of business transactions at Bumi Resources." The Bakries gave no proof to corroborate their allegations but said their conclusion was based on research done by security companies G3 and Context Information Security. They said they intend to "report their findings to the UK police and other regulatory authorities while the Indonesian police continue to investigate the hacking complaint made in that jurisdiction." The Bakries" announcement came hours after Sofaer Capital, a top 20 investor in Bumi plc called for the board to step down. "The board and management have failed and are not credible," said Michael Sofaer, managing director of the Hong Kong-based hedge fund. He said: "If I had been one of the independent non-executive directors I would have resigned ages ago." However, Mr Sofaer added that the current board, whose chairman is Indonesian investor Samin Tan, should stay in place until two key issues have been decided. The first is whether Macfarlanes has found that documentation said to be evidence of alleged accounting irregularities passed to the board is accurate. The second is whether a group of Indonesian shareholders that include Mr Tan and the Bakries who injected assets into a shell company set up by financier Nat Rothschild to create Bumi, constitute a "concert party." If the UK Takeover Panel decides Indonesian shareholders are interlinked, it could complicate an attempt by the Bakries to buy Bumi's operating assets and turn the group back into a cash shell. Mr Rothschild has meanwhile proposed a rival bid, aimed at removing the Bakries from the share register and focusing Bumi on one part of its portfolio of mines. He has won the backing of billionaire mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland.