Only A$642,000 of Hendra's ill-gotten US$200m recovered
Novan Iman Santosa and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hopes of recovering funds stashed away by the late Hendra Rahardja dimmed on Tuesday when Minister for Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that an Indonesia-Australia team tasked with tracing his ill-gotten wealth had recovered just A$642,000 of the US$200 million that his estate still owes.
"The joint task force has managed to secure some A$642,000 (approximately equal to Rp 28.25 billion). Today, Australian Minister for Justice and Customs Chris Ellison handed over the check to Indonesian Ambassador Imron Cotan at 3:30 p.m. Canberra time," said Yusril.
The joint task force was established based on a treaty between Australia and Indonesia on mutual legal assistance last year.
All of the funds, according to Yusril, were derived from Hendra's accounts frozen by the Australian government after the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced him to life in March 2002.
Hendra, who was tried in absentia for corruption involving Rp 1.95 trillion (US$216.7 million) of Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) funds, died in Australia in January 2003.
The total value of Hendra's wealth in Australia was unknown, but earlier Australia offered Indonesia some A$120 million of Hendra's assets in that country.
Yusril said that the confiscated money was what remained of some of Hendra's accounts frozen by the Australian government.
According to Yusril, Hendra's family and friends had sold all of his assets and transferred the money to tax-haven countries soon after they learned that the Indonesian government was after the money.
"We're currently trying to trace his assets, which likely have been transferred from Australia to Hong Kong, China, the Cayman Islands or the Virgin Islands. They might have transferred their money out of the country, but the Australian government has promised to help us trace it," Yusril said.
The minister said Indonesia had signed a mutual legal assistance agreement with both Hong Kong and China.
The Australia government has also supported Indonesia in its attempt to capture Hendra' son, Eko Edi Putranto, Yusril said. Eko, whose whereabouts are still unknown, was sentenced to 20 years in jail in the same case.
Hendra was one of several wealthy bankers who fled the country in 1997 to avoid prosecution after refusing to repay the misused BLBI funds.
The government failed to bring Hendra, who was arrested by the Australian government for an immigration offense in 1999, to justice due to complicated extradition proceedings in Australia.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Imron said the joint task force "highlighted the very close and productive cooperation by the authorities in both countries as part of our commitment to combating transnational crime, particularly money-laundering."
Yusril said that the achievement of the task force revealed "a very important thing, that is the government of Australia accepts the verdict by the Indonesian court so they decide not to re-hear the case in Australia."
Ellison said the case demonstrated the recent improvement in Australia's ability to recover the proceeds of crime by using for the first time the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
"Australia is not a safe haven for money launderers and criminals should be aware that if they bring the proceeds of their overseas crimes to Australia, our authorities will act together with their foreign counterparts to ensure the proceeds of their crimes are seized," Ellison said in a press release received by The Jakarta Post Tuesday.