Bumi plc board meets to resolve disputes The board of Bumi plc, the troubled London-listed, Indonesia-focused coal miner, is meeting in Singapore on Thursday to try to resolve bitter internal disputes and find a way to reverse the collapse in the group's share price. The meeting, the first since Bumi plc said last month it had hired a law firm to investigate alleged financial irregularities at its Indonesia-listed affiliate Bumi Resources, is likely to be tense, after two of Bumi plc's original backers - financier Nat Rothschild and Indonesia's influential Bakrie family - fell out over disagreements about corporate governance. Tensions surrounding the company and its backers have been further heightened after the Bakrie family, whose patriarch Aburizal wants to stand for the presidency of Indonesia in 2014, claimed on Thursday that their phones and computers have been hacked. "We are aware that our email servers and telephones have been compromised or "hacked" and we have reported this to the Indonesian National Police cyber crime unit," Chris Fong, a family spokesman, said in a statement. He said the family had "strong suspicions" about who was behind the attacks but would make no further comment. A spokesman for the police cyber crime unit was not immediately available to comment. Concerns about corporate governance and the Bakries" extensive debts have driven a near 90 per cent fall in the value of Bumi shares since a £14 peak in April 2011, when financier Nat Rothschild completed a deal to reverse the family's Indonesian coal-mining assets into Vallar, his London-listed shell company. The shares closed on Wednesday at 185.7p. Bumi plc - which owns 29 per cent of Bumi Resources - has come to epitomise the risks investors face with emerging market resource groups, even if they have the City's stamp of approval via a London listing. The Bumi plc board meeting in Singapore is likely to be attended by Mr Rothschild and the co-chairmen Indra Bakrie and Samin Tan. Directors will be updated on the progress of the investigation by Macfarlanes, a law firm, into alleged financial irregularities related to Bumi Resources" investments in development assets, including an oil exploration project in Yemen, according to people familiar with the matter. Bankers said that there are a number of possible options to resolve the discord - including a spin-off of the Bumi Resources stake - but that it is likely to take time for the board and shareholders to agree on the best way forward. Bumi Resources said last week that it has always operated in accordance with the law and that it believes it is the target of an unjustified attack by those wanting to damage its share price. Sandiaga Uno, a high-profile private equity investor who cofounded a firm that is managing money on behalf of Bumi Resources, hit out at the Bakrie family's critics on Wednesday in a column in the Jakarta Globe newspaper. He said that "the Bakrie family is unfairly portrayed almost as a bully who violates governance standards and regulations." It is undeniable that the endless public allegations against the Bakries have never proved to be correct, but even so, the accusers have never apologised. The Bakries and Mr Tan each own 23.8 per cent of Bumi plc after the Bakries sold half of their original stake to him for $1bn last November to avoid a default on their substantial debts. Mr Tan, who is sitting on a large paper loss after paying £10.91 per share, has pledged to simplify the company's complex structure in order to return value to investors.