MP: Asset Forfeiture Bill Should Prioritise Victim Compensation

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Muhammad Rahul, a member of Commission III of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), said the recovery of losses suffered by victims of financial crimes should be prioritised in discussions on the Asset Forfeiture Bill.

Rahul said such provisions were important to provide legal certainty for victims, including those affected by investment fraud, fictitious stock and commodity trading, loan defaults by cooperatives involving criminal acts, and fraud involving the organisation of umrah pilgrimages.

“Law enforcement must not focus solely on punishing offenders; it must also ensure that victims’ rights can be restored,” he said in a statement received in Jakarta on Friday.

He said punishing offenders was not enough: victims’ rights also needed to be restored by returning the proceeds of crime.

He said recovering victims’ losses often involved lengthy and complicated processes, especially when criminal proceeds had been transferred, concealed or placed under another person’s name.

Rahul therefore backed strengthening Article 38, paragraph 3, during deliberations on the bill. It provides for confiscated assets to be transferred to the state treasury, destroyed, or returned to victims or other entitled parties.

He said that when confiscated assets originated from members of the public who had been defrauded, returning them to the victims should take priority so their rights were not overlooked.

Rahul also said the bill’s in rem asset forfeiture mechanism could help expedite the handling of criminal proceeds without always having to wait for the entire criminal proceedings against an offender to conclude.

However, he stressed that asset forfeiture must follow lawful judicial procedures, be based on evidence and protect the rights of parties acting in good faith.

He said he hoped the asset forfeiture provisions would strengthen efforts to combat economic crime while providing legal certainty on how assets should be returned to members of the public who had suffered losses.