RI urged to sign pact on money laundering

RI urged to sign pact on money laundering

SEMARANG (JP): Noted legal expert Muladi said yesterday
that Indonesia should quickly ratify the 1988 international
convention on money laundering and enact legislation accordingly.

Muladi, the rector of the Diponegoro University, said in a law
seminar that failure to ratify the convention could lead to
Indonesia becoming isolated in the international banking
community.

Indonesia, he said, is already an easy target for the
international money laundering syndicates because of the virtual
absence of any laws that bar such practices.

The two-week seminar brings together more than 100 legal
experts from various law schools in Indonesia to review the
country's present criminal laws.

Muladi warned that money laundering transcends national
border. "Indonesia must follow other countries in making money
laundering a crime," he said.

Legal experts have earlier said the Indonesian banking law
which guarantees banking secrecy, including the origins of any
fund deposited with local banks, made the country an ideal
transit point for people laundering their ill-gotten gains.

Most experts and officials believe that money laundering is
already widely practiced in the country although none have been
able to support this with any evidence yet.

Muladi urged the legal experts yesterday to keep track of the
rapid changes in the world of crime, including money laundering,
so that they can provide timely and effective solutions to
problems that affect into Indonesia.

Romli Atmasasmita, a criminal law expert with the Padjadjaran
University in Bandung, told the seminar that Indonesia's criminal
laws should not only deal with current problems but they should
be capable of anticipating and dealing with new problems in the
future.

He said the trend in the crime world now is to expand beyond
national borders. (har/emb)