Indonesia 'able to enter' Swiss, Austrian bank secrecy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government has claimed to be able
\nto penetrate bank secrecy in Switzerland and Austria on cases
\nrelated to money laundering, including the allegedly ill-gotten
\nwealth owned by former president Soeharto and his family.<\/p>\n
\"After Switzerland, finally Austria is willing to fully help
\nopen its bank secrecy to customers who are believed to have made
\ndeposit from money laundering practices,\" Minister of Justice
\nMuladi told Antara in Vienna, Austria, on Friday evening.<\/p>\n
\"Moreover, the two countries are also willing to closely
\ncooperate in the future,\" he said, adding that such a help was
\nnot limited to the provision of data on the alleged ill-gotten
\nwealth of Soeharto and his family.<\/p>\n
Muladi, Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib and banking expert
\nSutan Remy Syahdeini are in Austria on a mission to trace the
\nwhereabouts of a US$9 billion transfer allegedly made by the
\nSoehartos from a Swiss bank, as reported recently by Time
\nmagazine.<\/p>\n
Muladi said that in the meetings with high-ranking officials
\nof both Swiss and Austrian justice ministries, attorney general's
\noffices, police and central banks, both sides have agreed to help
\nIndonesia uncover the money laundering practices.<\/p>\n
In a meeting with Austrian Attorney General Gottfried Shasser
\nand Central Bank Governor Klaus Liebscher on Friday morning, for
\nexample, it was agreed that Indonesia should send an official
\nletter requiring the opening up of the bank secrecy in the
\ncountry toward the possibility of money laundering practices and
\nother crimes conducted by certain customers, Muladi said.<\/p>\n
\"The letter from Indonesia will be answered in the form of
\nwritten documents so as to enable them to be used as evidence in
\nthe Indonesian court. Principally, the two sides agreed that the
\nmoney laundering practices are part of transnational crimes which
\nmust be wiped out,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Muladi, who is a former rector of the Diponegoro University in
\nSemarang, Central Java, explained that the contents of the
\nofficial letters from the two countries cannot be disclosed as
\nthey were to be sent to President B.J. Habibie first.<\/p>\n
\"This night we will compile complete reports to the President
\nto be handed over to him directly several hours after voting on
\nMonday. On the same day, or at least on Tuesday, I will hold a
\nmedia conference at the State Secretariat,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Muladi, who is also a former member of the National Commission
\non Human Right, said that Indonesia could be said to have made a
\nkind of new precedence in penetrating the bank secrecy linked to
\nmoney laundering practices because such a process was usually
\ndone by private consultants in an arduous and time-consuming way
\nand at great expense.<\/p>\n
Besides, according Swiss banking history, secret data could be
\nopened and savings cashed only after customers were found guilty
\nin line with a court verdict, he said.<\/p>\n
Such practices were applied to the savings of Mobutu Sese
\nSeko, former president of Zaire, and Ferdinand Marcos, former
\npresident of the Philippines.<\/p>\n
\"The penetration of bank secrecy in Switzerland and Austria
\ndid not take place easily because the two countries initially
\ninsisted on following existing regulations. But after we forced
\nthem to, they agreed, after seeing the seriousness of the
\nIndonesian government, including investigating and trying
\ncronies, family members and Soeharto himself,\" Muladi was quoted
\nby Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Sutan Remy, a banking expert staff to the minister of justice,
\nsaid that Indonesia's efforts to fight money laundering practices
\nwould function as an example for other countries having similar
\ncases.<\/p>\n
\"This is a positive precedence which can be emulated by other
\ncountries even though money laundering syndicates will surely
\nused new methods as well. But we should not forget to improve the
\nlegal system related to transnational crimes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, a source at the National Police said on Sunday
\ndetectives did not know what steps to take to follow up on the
\nlegal complaint filed against Time by Soeharto last Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"We're studying whether there were any criminal breaches in
\nthe article,\" the source, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
When asked whether police could summon the magazine's
\nexecutives for questioning, the source said: \"It's not that
\nsimple. If we summon people, either witnesses or suspects, we
\nmust first known the details of the alleged violations
\ncommitted.\"<\/p>\n
The source also said police had to study the Time article to
\ndetermine whether it was libelous and defamatory.<\/p>\n
\"We're still studying it thoroughly,\" the source said.
\n(hhr\/emf)<\/p>",
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