Govt gives up on corruptor's wealth<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Months of hunting for assets of the late Hendra Rahardja, former
\nIndonesian banker and business magnate convicted of corruption,
\nhave ended in disappointment as virtually all of his wealth has
\nbeen sold, a Cabinet minister has said.<\/p>\n
Quoting reports from the Australian government, Minister of
\nJustice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Saturday
\nthat almost all of Hendra's assets in Australia had been sold
\nbefore the Australian government executed a verdict by an
\nIndonesian court in Hendra's graft case.<\/p>\n
\"There is still a small number of assets but their value is
\nfar below our expectations. There have been allegations that his
\nassets were transferred to other countries,\" Yusril said.<\/p>\n
Yusril did not reveal the value of Hendra's leftover assets in
\nAustralia that had been acquired by the government.<\/p>\n
The government, according to Yusril, was currently trying to
\ntrace Hendra's assets outside Australia. However, he complained
\nabout difficulties in tracing the assets.<\/p>\n
\"The attempt to extradite him took a very long time. People
\ncan move their ill-gotten wealth quickly if they hear the
\ngovernment is after it,\" Yusril said.<\/p>\n
The government has been pursuing Hendra's assets in a bid to
\npay his debts to the country since January last year, following
\nHendra's death in Australia.<\/p>\n
It had set up a liquidation team to sort out his assets after
\nthe Australian government offered Jakarta some US$120 million of
\nHendra's assets in that country.<\/p>\n
Efforts to bring Hendra back to the country since March 2002
\nto serve his life imprisonment were part of the government's
\nattempt to prosecute corruptors implicated in Bank Indonesia
\nLiquidity Assistance (BLBI) fund violations.<\/p>\n
However, the attempts failed due to complicated extradition
\nproceedings in Australia.<\/p>\n
Hendra, who was arrested by the Australian government for an
\nimmigration offense in 1999, subsequently died of kidney cancer
\nearly in January 2003.<\/p>\n
The tycoon, who fled the country in 1997, was sentenced to
\nlife imprisonment in absentia for corruption involving Rp 1.95
\ntrillion (US$216.7 million) of taxpayers' money distributed to
\ntwo of his banks under the BLBI program during the economic
\ncrisis in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n
Hendra, along with his son, was charged with corruption after
\nthe collapse of his two banks, Bank Harapan Sentosa and Bank Guna
\nInternational, in 1997, even though the state had provided
\nemergency funds to bail out failing banks.<\/p>\n
The whereabouts of Eko Edi Putranto, Hendra' son, are
\ncurrently unknown. He was sentenced to 20 years in jail following
\nan in absentia trial in the same case.<\/p>\n
Hendra was one of several wealthy bankers who fled the country
\nto avoid prosecution after they refused to repay to the state
\nmisused BLBI funds.<\/p>\n
His brother Edi Tansil has remained at large since he fled
\nCipinang prison in 1996 while he was in the second year of a 20-
\nyear jail term after being convicted of corruption charges
\namounting to Rp 1.3 trillion that nearly brought the state-owned
\nBank Pembangunan Indonesia to bankruptcy.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-gives-up-on-corruptors-wealth-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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