S'pore aid sought in BNI case
Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta
Indonesia's antimoney-laundering agency expected its Singaporean counterpart to be more cooperative in its investigation into the Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) case, upon learning that some of the ill-gotten funds had been channeled to several banks in the city- state.
Yunus Husein, chairman of the Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK), said on Thursday that the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office (STRO) had refused to trace the flow of BNI funds.
STRO is the city-state's version of PPATK.
"That could spell problems for Indonesia's efforts to recover the misused funds," Yunus said, adding that it could derail efforts to punish the perpetrators.
Yunus said some of the funds had been used in financial transactions involving more than 10 accounts at a number of banks in Singapore.
He refused to name the banks or the amounts involved.
"We sent STRO a letter asking about the identities of the owners of the accounts and where the funds went from there. But they said they couldn't do that as it required the consent of the account holders," he said, citing the banking secrecy code.
The Rp 1.7 trillion BNI graft case involves 17 people suspects, three of whom have already been tried at court. Less than a quarter of the funds have been recovered.
Unless solid evidence of money laundering is presented to the Singaporeans, there is not much they can do about it, Yunus continued.
The PPATK 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 that indicate a crime are forwarded to the police or the Attorney General's Office for further investigation.
According to Law No. 25/2003, money laundering is defined as the practice of converting money generated from unlawful practices including corruption, bribery, smuggling, banking- related crimes, drug-related crimes, people trafficking, gambling and terrorism into legal investments.
Yunus said tough crackdowns on cases like BNI would put the country -- which has been included on the list of uncooperative nations by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in the fight against money laundering -- into a better position in the eyes of international community.
Asked what the agency's next step to trace the accounts in Singapore would be, Yunus said the PPAT was seeking ways to work it out, including drumming up support from the police and the Attorney General's Office.
The FATF is a powerful global antimoney-laundering watchdog set up by developed countries.
Elsewhere, the Supreme Court on Thursday swore in Priyanto, Susno Duadji and Bambang Setiawan as deputy chairmen of the PPATK.
"I welcome their appointments. Hopefully their presence will optimize the role of the PPATK," Yunus, who was present at the ceremony, said.