PPATK, CIFOR team up in antimoney-laundering drive

PPATK, CIFOR team up in antimoney-laundering drive

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A partnership was formed on Friday between the country's
antimoney-laundering watchdog and the Center for International
Forestry Research (CIFOR) to intensify the drive against the
laundering of profits derived from illegal logging.

The partnership arrangement, which is based on a Memorandum of
Understanding, will be translated into a number of activities,
including data-sharing, training, exchanges of experts and the
formulation of guidelines to help financial institutions identify
money-laundering activities and eventually prevent them.

The MOU was signed by the chairman of the Financial
Transaction and Report Analysis Center (PPATK), Yunus Husein, and
CIFOR Director General David Kaimowitz.

"This MOU is of great importance as we all know how illegal
logging is flourishing in this country, and generating trillions
of rupiah in profits.

"And it's impossible that none of this ill-gotten money is not
passing through our financial institutions -- in this case, the
banks," Yunus told a press gathering after the MOU signing
ceremony.

Kaimowitz echoed Yunus' comments on the importance of the MOU,
saying that it was time to tackle illegal logging by acting
against its proceeds.

"Usually people follow the logs. Many are not aware that we
can also reduce illegal logging by following the profits it
generates," he said.

The country's forests, once some of the largest and richest in
the world, are now suffering from rapid and seemingly unstoppable
deforestation, mainly at the hands of illegal loggers.

According to CIFOR data, of a total of 70 million cubic meters
of timber consumed annually by domestic industry, some 60 percent
to 80 percent of it comes from illegal logging.

Forest clearance is currently happening at such a rapid pace
that the country is losing forests the size of the greater
Jakarta area every week.

The PPATK, which was established in April 2002, is tasked with
collecting, recording and analyzing all information reported by
financial service providers in the form of suspicious transaction
reports (STR) and cash transaction reports (CTR).

Reports which indicate criminal activity are forwarded to the
police, or the Attorney General's Office, for further
investigation.

Law No. 25/2003 on Money-Laundering defines money-laundering
as the practice of converting money generated from corruption,
bribery, smuggling, banking-related crimes, drug-related crimes,
people trafficking, gambling and terrorism into legal
investments.

The PPATK has wide-ranging powers. It can conduct audits on
banks and other financial institutions, and freeze the assets of
suspects after having reported a suspicious transaction to
investigators.

It is also allowed to conduct wire taps and make voice and
other recordings. Once a person has been charged as a suspect,
the burden of proof is reversed and he or she has to prove his or
her innocence.