Safe haven for corruptors

Safe haven for corruptors From Koran Tempo

A team of investigators from the National Police Headquarters handed over to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office on March 1 the dossiers on five suspect in a bank scam that inflicted Rp 1.7 trillion in losses to Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).

These five suspects are all businessmen from the PT Gramarindo Group: Ollah Abdullah Agam, Adrian P. Lumowa, Richard K, Titik Priswanti and Aprilla Widarta (Tempo Interaktif, March 1, 2004).

Thank God, the police have taken concrete action against these manipulators. At least the public can have some optimism about the country's law enforcers, although the final results are still a big question.

It sometimes strikes me how nice it is to be big-time manipulators in Indonesia. You can siphon off billions of rupiah, deposit the money in a bank, return it and get off scot-free. Indonesia is a real safe haven for big-time manipulators. You siphon off the Bank Indonesia liquidity support money and then connive with government officials to have the money laundered. You can easily get a letter certifying that you have settled your debts.

Unfortunately, small criminals will have to face the mob, the police and other law enforcers, who will jointly make a concerted effort to wipe out pickpockets, shoplifters and the like. But when they face big-time manipulators, they try to find some justification to stay away and turn a blind eye to their major crimes.

PUTRA Surabaya