An Indonesian court on Thursday threw out a $1.54bn civil suit filed by the government against Suharto, the country’s former dictator, and his family, even as it found that a charity he established guilty of misusing $440m during his rule.

The verdict represents the first court judgment over long-standing allegations of corruption against Suharto. Transparency International, the corruption watchdog, has accused the former president, who died in January, and his family of siphoning off as much as $35bn (€22bn, £17bn) during his 32-year rule.