Int'l help needed to fight money laundering<\/p>\n
Rita A.Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali<\/p>\n
Indonesian Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra said on Wednesday the country needed help from its
\nneighboring countries as well as international organizations to
\nfight money laundering and terrorist financing.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the closing of the two-day conference on
\ncombating money laundering and terrorist financing, Yusril was
\noutspoken in referring directly to Singapore, which he said
\npersistently refused to sign an extradition agreement with
\nIndonesia. Indonesia's push for the extradition agreement was
\npart of an attempt to bring to court a number of Indonesian
\ncitizens suspected of committing economic crimes and hoarding
\ntheir savings in various financial institutions in the city-
\nstate.<\/p>\n
He said if the extradition agreement had been signed,
\nIndonesia would have been able to reclaim some of the money from
\nthe accounts of those who had received Indonesian Bank Liquidity
\nAssistance Funds (BLBI), which amounted to around Rp 180 trillion
\n(US$200 billion).<\/p>\n
\"If we succeed in reclaiming these funds, we wouldn't have to
\nbeg for assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
\nfor instance, or from other international financial institutions
\nto support our economy,\" he added.<\/p>\n
During their summit on Monday, both President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri and Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong did
\nnot touch the extradition issue.<\/p>\n
Through the conference, Yusril said, Indonesia obtained strong
\ncommitment and help from a number of participating countries and
\ninstitutions, including the United States, Australia, the Asian
\nDevelopment Bank (ADB) and various others.<\/p>\n
\"The United States has shown its strong commitment to help
\nIndonesia by providing training assistance and other capacity
\nbuilding activities to the Indonesian police and the Indonesian
\nArmed Forces (TNI) to fight against terrorism and related
\ncrimes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, the minister added, had just obtained legislation
\non the issue only in April this year but had yet to build a
\ncomprehensive system or institutions to fight money laundering,
\ncorruption and related economic crimes.<\/p>\n
The law on money laundering, which was passed in order to
\ncomply with international commitments, covers 15 predicated
\ncrimes including money laundering, terrorism and punishable
\ncriminal acts such as corruption, bribery, smuggling of goods,
\nsmuggling of immigrants, banking offenses, related drug crimes
\nand trade in women and children.<\/p>\n
The minister went on to say that Indonesia would also ask the
\nU.S. and other countries to help Indonesia in investigating money
\nillegally swindled from the Indonesian Central Bank through
\nsharing information and expertise.<\/p>\n
\"We have to admit that Indonesia must learn a lot from more
\nexperienced countries in dealing with money laundering and
\nterrorism financing,\" Yusril said. For example, he said, the
\ntransfer of $30,000 from a Malaysian bank to Indonesia to finance
\nthe recent Bali bombing went undetected by the Central Bank.<\/p>\n
\"The amount of money was insignificant as compared to the
\nimpact caused by the Bali bombing since, as a result, the
\ngovernment must now revise the state budget. The country also
\nsuffered a loss of billions of dollars due to the bombings in
\nBali and in Makassar, South Sulawesi, in early December,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Another important point is that it is extremely difficult to
\ndetect money-laundering activities through informal financial
\ninstitutions.<\/p>\n
\"Many people allegedly involved in this crime often spend
\ntheir money in cash. Therefore, we really need a strong legal and
\nlaw enforcement system to deal with this problem,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In addition to these forms of assistance, the ADB has pledged
\nto provide $650,000 in technical assistance to help a number of
\ncountries in the Asia-Pacific, including Indonesia, the
\nPhilippines and Thailand, to counter money laundering activities
\nin the region.<\/p>\n
The two-day conference, which was co-hosted by Indonesia and
\nAustralia, has resulted in a number of conclusions and action
\nplans.<\/p>\n
The conference stressed three important issues: building
\nlegislative frameworks and networks to combat money laundering
\nand terrorist financing among participating countries, and
\nincreasing capacity building activities, close cooperation and
\ncoordination.<\/p>\n
Australian co-chairman Chris Moraitis said the results of the
\nconference were not merely static statements. \"The conference
\nbrought together experts on money laundering from all over the
\nworld to share their expertise with their counterparts from the
\nAsia-Pacific countries,\" said Moraitis, who is a senior legal
\nadvisor of Australia's foreign affairs ministry.<\/p>\n
The conference participants recognized the importance of
\ncombating money laundering within the framework of their domestic
\nlaws and international obligations, and of enacting the
\nappropriate legislation to combat money laundering.<\/p>\n
Participants acknowledged that money laundering was a
\ntransnational crime which could involve many countries.
\nTherefore, they expressed their strong commitment and intent to
\nforge cooperation to furthering existing instruments and efforts
\naimed at strengthening the capacity of states to respond,
\ncollectively and individually, to the threats posed by money
\nlaundering and terrorist financing.<\/p>\n
The conference also underlined the importance of strengthening
\nexisting mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region to prevent,
\ncriminalize and combat money laundering. Mutual legal assistance
\namong the participating countries would cover the investigation
\nand prosecution of money laundering and terrorist financing, the
\ntracing, freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crimes and of
\nfunds destined for terrorist sources.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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