Police reshuffle may delay money laundering probe

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The probe into suspicious bank accounts owned by 15 police officers may be suspended for a while following the replacement of the head of internal affairs at the National Police Headquarters who is in charge of the investigation.

The new head of internal affairs, Insp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani, said he had not received the files from the former head, Insp. Gen. Supriyadi.

"I haven't received anything yet since I have just been inaugurated. Let's just wait and see," Yusuf said after the inauguration ceremony on Friday.

However, Yusuf, former head of the police telecommunications division, said he was ready to resume the investigation into the case once he received the necessary files.

"I will do my best as I promised Pak Sutanto," Yusuf said, referring to the National Police chief.

The National Police announced a reshuffle on Thursday affecting seven generals, including some of the 15 officers being investigated in connection with alleged money laundering.

The Financial Transactions and Report Analysis Center (PPATK) submitted last week a report on money laundering implicating 15 officers to the National Police chief. Neither the police nor the PPATK have disclosed the names of the officers.

PPATK head Yunus Hussein said the accounts were not only owned by high-ranking police officers such as generals but also lower level officers such as sergeants.

It is rumored that one account contained around Rp 1 trillion (US$105 million), which triggered suspicion as the monthly salary of a four-star general is only around Rp 10 million.

Meanwhile, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said on Friday that internal affairs was investigating the report submitted by the PPATK, the country's anti-money laundering watchdog.

But he said the internal affairs division was unlikely to freeze the bank accounts of the 15 officers at this stage as the investigation was still at a preliminary stage.

"They're still doing the preliminary investigation to find out whether they are criminal cases or not. I hope the public can give us time to finish the investigation," Aryanto said.

He explained that the police could not just freeze bank accounts without naming the account holders suspects, and since the investigation had not yet reached that stage the police did not plan to do so in the near future.