Only A$642,000 of Hendra's ill-gotten US$200m recovered<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Hopes of recovering funds stashed away by the late Hendra
\nRahardja dimmed on Tuesday when Minister for Justice and Human
\nRights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that an Indonesia-Australia team
\ntasked with tracing his ill-gotten wealth had recovered just
\nA$642,000 of the US$200 million that his estate still owes.<\/p>\n
\"The joint task force has managed to secure some A$642,000
\n(approximately equal to Rp 28.25 billion). Today, Australian
\nMinister for Justice and Customs Chris Ellison handed over the
\ncheck to Indonesian Ambassador Imron Cotan at 3:30 p.m. Canberra
\ntime,\" said Yusril.<\/p>\n
The joint task force was established based on a treaty between
\nAustralia and Indonesia on mutual legal assistance last year.<\/p>\n
All of the funds, according to Yusril, were derived from
\nHendra's accounts frozen by the Australian government after the
\nCentral Jakarta District Court sentenced him to life in March
\n2002.<\/p>\n
Hendra, who was tried in absentia for corruption involving Rp
\n1.95 trillion (US$216.7 million) of Bank Indonesia Liquidity
\nAssistance (BLBI) funds, died in Australia in January 2003.<\/p>\n
The total value of Hendra's wealth in Australia was unknown,
\nbut earlier Australia offered Indonesia some A$120 million of
\nHendra's assets in that country.<\/p>\n
Yusril said that the confiscated money was what remained of
\nsome of Hendra's accounts frozen by the Australian government.<\/p>\n
According to Yusril, Hendra's family and friends had sold all
\nof his assets and transferred the money to tax-haven countries
\nsoon after they learned that the Indonesian government was after
\nthe money.<\/p>\n
\"We're currently trying to trace his assets, which likely have
\nbeen transferred from Australia to Hong Kong, China, the Cayman
\nIslands or the Virgin Islands. They might have transferred their
\nmoney out of the country, but the Australian government has
\npromised to help us trace it,\" Yusril said.<\/p>\n
The minister said Indonesia had signed a mutual legal
\nassistance agreement with both Hong Kong and China.<\/p>\n
The Australia government has also supported Indonesia in its
\nattempt to capture Hendra' son, Eko Edi Putranto, Yusril said.
\nEko, whose whereabouts are still unknown, was sentenced to 20
\nyears in jail in the same case.<\/p>\n
Hendra was one of several wealthy bankers who fled the country
\nin 1997 to avoid prosecution after refusing to repay the misused
\nBLBI funds.<\/p>\n
The government failed to bring Hendra, who was arrested by
\nthe Australian government for an immigration offense in 1999, to
\njustice due to complicated extradition proceedings in Australia.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ambassador Imron said the joint task force
\n\"highlighted the very close and productive cooperation by the
\nauthorities in both countries as part of our commitment to
\ncombating transnational crime, particularly money-laundering.\"<\/p>\n
Yusril said that the achievement of the task force revealed \"a
\nvery important thing, that is the government of Australia accepts
\nthe verdict by the Indonesian court so they decide not to re-hear
\nthe case in Australia.\"<\/p>\n
Ellison said the case demonstrated the recent improvement in
\nAustralia's ability to recover the proceeds of crime by using for
\nthe first time the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.<\/p>\n
\"Australia is not a safe haven for money launderers and
\ncriminals should be aware that if they bring the proceeds of
\ntheir overseas crimes to Australia, our authorities will act
\ntogether with their foreign counterparts to ensure the proceeds
\nof their crimes are seized,\" Ellison said in a press release
\nreceived by The Jakarta Post Tuesday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/only-a642000-of-hendras-ill-gotten-us200m-recovered-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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