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COMMENTARY: ID mega corruption reveals weak anti-money laundering system
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) took about three years and questioned almost 300 witnesses to build a case on the suspected Rp 2.3 trillion (US$170 million) corruption within the Rp 5.9 trillion electronic identification card (e-ID) project.
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Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) took about three years and questioned almost 300 witnesses to build a case on the suspected Rp 2.3 trillion (US$170 million) corruption within the Rp 5.9 trillion electronic identification card (e-ID) project. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
H
as anyone seen our financial intelligence agency? The whereabouts of the Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Centre (PPATK) is a big question prompted by the fact that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) took about three years and questioned almost 300 witnesses to build a case on the suspected Rp 2.3 trillion (US$170 million) corruption within the Rp 5.9 trillion electronic identification card (e-ID) project.
Yet the KPK has so far indicted only two defendants.
How could such a huge amount of money — the Rp 2.3 trillion that was allegedly stolen from the project — be moved around between 2011 and 2012 without being detected by the PPATK through its anti-money laundering radar, which is supposed to monitor suspicious transactions in all financial services companies?
The fact that the KPK questioned almost 300 witnesses but was able to compile indictments against only two defendants out of about 50 politicians, senior officials and institutions implicated in the country’s biggest corruption case shows that it is extremely difficult to trace the illicit money.
This means the alleged stolen money was distributed in cash, using United States dollars or rupiah. Further down the line this boils down to a miserable failure of the anti-money laundering system that was launched in 2002 under a special law.
The PPATK, as the politically independent implementing agency of the Money Laundering Law, monitors suspicious transactions through banks and other financial institutions in fighting money laundering. Other providers of goods and services such as property developers, timber companies, car dealers and jewelry stores have also been required to report to the PPATK any big cash transactions (more than Rp 500 million) and other financial deals that are beyond their customers’ profiles.
The PPATK, which has many police officers, lawyers and financial experts among its staff, analyzes and examines the reports to ascertain as to whether a suspicious transaction smacks of money laundering. Only transactions with strong evidence of money laundering are submitted to law enforcers for further investigation and prosecution.
