BI finds suspicious transactions in 7 banks

BI finds suspicious transactions in 7 banks

TANGERANG: Bank Indonesia has received 40 reports of suspicious transactions that could be linked to money laundering in five local banks and two foreign banks operating here.

The Central Bank's Deputy Director of Law Department, Yunus Husein, said in a discussion on money laundering at Hotel Imperial, Karawaci, Tangerang on Sunday they were still studying the reports.

He said they would complete the reports with their own on-the- spot investigations of six of the banks.

According to him, the Central Bank is busy preparing its database system and other information-related infrastructure needed for its banking investigation unit. "Our information system is being developed as a center for analyzing financial transactions," he was quoted by Detik.com as saying.

Meanwhile, the head of Bank Indonesia's banking investigation unit, Sundari Arie, also said that from the reports they have studied they had not yet found enough data to conclude the seven banks had laundered money.

He said that based on the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) review on preventing money laundering, Indonesia was still listed as "uncooperative" because it had not yet applied recommendations made by the FATF.--JP