As Mr Suharto steps down as president, it is unclear what will happen to the vast wealth he and his family have controversially amassed over his 32 years in power.

Accusations that the Suharto family lined their pockets on the back of Indonesia's one-time economic miracle were a key factor in the president's downfall.

In 1997, American-based Forbes magazine said Mr Suharto had an estimated personal wealth of $16bn.

Family Fortune

He leaves much of the country's battered economy still under the control of his six children and close friends who have accumulated vast wealth, mainly through government contracts:

• Mr Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, controls one of Indonesia's leading toll-road companies. Nicknamed "Tutut" for liking the sound of cars honking on toll roads built by one of her 55 companies, she was appointed minister for social welfare in the cabinet Mr Suharto formed after his March re-election.

• Second son Bambang Trihatmodjo, is regarded as the clan's most capable entrepreneur, and heads the conglomerate Bimantara Citra, with interests in television, cars, property, construction, hotels and telecommunications.

• Youngest son, known as "Tommy", is behind Indonesia's controversial national car project, the Timor, for which he was awarded tax and tariff breaks that attracted criticism from other car manufacturers. He was reported to have bought Italian sports car maker Lamborghini in 1997 and, until earlier this year, held the lucrative monopoly on cloves, used in the country's popular kretek cigarettes.

Overseas investments

While Mr Suharto urged Indonesians to make sacrifices to overcome the economic crisis in July, as the rupiah lost over 80% of its value, his family's business interests bore little of the hardship endured by ordinary Indonesians.

How long left in the charts? Suharto is curently ranked 6 in Forbes' world's richest.

It is not known what form many of their assets take, but some analysts speak of money being held in overseas banks.

Stephen Rogers, a Jakarta-based business analyst, said that while the children did not have business assets overseas, they had invested in property and liquid assets abroad thought to be worth around �80m.

However, for the time being they are staying put in Indonesia despite their father's resignation, a source close to the family said.

Crony capitalism

During his rule, Mr Suharto crafted himself as Indonesia's "father of development", bringing economic growth that averaged over 6% for the two decades before the crisis began in July last year.

But the subsequent rapid depreciation of the Indonesian rupiah uncovered the weaknesses in the system of crony capitalism that underpinned Mr Suharto's economic miracle.

The Suharto family fortune, estimated at US $40bn, is as substantial as the International Monetary Fund's rescue package agreed to help Indonesia out of its worst economic crisis in decades.

While the IMF austerity programme hit ordinary Indonesians hard, the first family continued to spend lavishly on overseas shopping trips and showed little sign of any empathy with the worsening situation for most Indonesians.

Mr Suharto's own call for Indonesians to make sacrifices to overcome the economic crisis carried little weight while the financial interests of his family and friends remained protected.

Where will the money go?

As he steps down, one of the key questions being asked is what will happen to the former presidential fortune.

Opposition groups who have led the struggle to oust Mr Suharto demanded that he now be put on trial and that his wealth be confiscated and turned over to the state.

In his first address to the nation, Indonesia's new President, BJ Habibie, promised to implement reforms and bring "clean government, free from inefficiency and the practises of corruption, collusion and nepotism."

But as a close associate of the ex-president, who rose to power under his patronage, it remains to be seen whether Mr Habibie has the political will or stature to take on the former first family's business interests.

Read BBC economics correspondent James Morgan's expos� of the sources of Suharto's millions here.