Switzerland, HK to help recoup assets<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The authorities in Hong Kong and Switzerland have agreed to help
\nthe government of Indonesia recoup funds and other liquid assets
\nstashed by the country's graft suspects in overseas banks.<\/p>\n
"Basically, the Swiss government is ready to return fully the
\nassets, while in the case of Hong Kong we need to hold further
\ntalks," said Basrief Arief, who recently led a team to visit the
\nHong Kong and Switzerland in a bid to track down the assets of
\ngraft suspects.<\/p>\n
Basrief, who is also a deputy of the attorney general, said
\nthat the Hong Kong police had demanded a 20 percent
\nadministration fee for the assets to be returned to Indonesia,
\nwhile the remaining 80 percent would be divided equally.<\/p>\n
He said that it was difficult to accommodate the demand as the
\nstate had suffered dearly from the rampant graft activities in
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
Team member Zulkarnaen Yunus said that during talks with the
\nHong Kong justice department, there was no discussion on the
\nsharing of the confiscated assets.<\/p>\n
Zulkarnaen, who is also the director general of legal
\nadministration at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, said
\nthat the Swiss authorities initially also made the same demands,
\nbut after further negotiation, they finally agreed to return the
\nassets in full to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Many embezzlers in Indonesia have stashed their ill-gotten
\nwealth in banks in Hong Kong and Switzerland, assuming that the
\ntough banking secrecy code in the two foreign countries would
\nmake it difficult to trace the assets and recover them. Some of
\nthe corrupt suspects have also fled the country to avoid
\nprosecution. The government has planned to provide legal immunity
\nto certain graft suspects if they cooperate with law enforcers in
\nuncovering bigger graft cases.<\/p>\n
The current administration of President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono has made the drive against corruption a top agenda.<\/p>\n
Basrief said that the Swiss authorities have expressed their
\ncommitment to help Indonesia in recovering the ill-gotten wealth
\nof embezzlers.<\/p>\n
He said that Switzerland had frozen since July of this year
\nbank accounts belonging to two Indonesians identified as IS and
\nEN, graft suspects in the Bank Global fiasco.<\/p>\n
According to the team, graft suspect Hendra Rahardja had
\nassets worth about $9.3 billion, excluding property assets which
\nuntil now have not been located.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/switzerland-hk-to-help-recoup-assets-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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