T

he recent revelation that a number of young civil servants have billions of rupiah in their bank accounts has raised concerns over the government’s failure in reforming the country’s bureaucracy and enforcing the law to put an end to graft.

The civil servants in question — possibly still in their 20s or 30s — were unlikely to have worked alone, commentators said, arguing that their superiors were more than likely involved in the crimes they have been accused of committing.

A 27-year-old civil servant, who declined to be named, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that there was no way a young civil servant could embezzle money without the guidance of his or her superiors, implying that the supervisors may be involved in the fraudulent practices.

“We don’t have that kind of authority [to carry out such a crime],” said the official, who earns around Rp 5 million (US$550) a month.

The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) has revealed that it found more than a dozen low-ranking civil servants with implausibly large bank accounts; some after merely one month of service.

The center said the amounts deposited in their accounts varied, ranging from millions to hundreds of billions of rupiah.

The revelation is unsurprising to some, who recalled how a then 33-year-old Gayus Tambunan, a former junior tax officer at the Finance Ministry, managed to amass billions of rupiah in his bank account and live a lavish lifestyle.

By the time he was fired on allegations of fraud and corruption practices, Gayus had actually benefited from the bureaucratic reform’s remuneration policy — hailed, ironically, as one of the measures that could prevent graft — and reportedly earned around Rp 12 million (US$1,320) a month in salary.

Kanti Rahayu, the deputy head of the National Consortium for Legal Reform (KRHN), said bureaucratic reform should not always be associated with remuneration policies, saying it was also vital for government institutions to “overhaul” their working systems as well.

Kanti pointed to the success of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which has succeeded in making itself one of the cleanest institutions in the country by implementing a solid system to prevent corruption as well as paying high salaries to its officials. The KPK is considered cleaner than other law enforcement agencies, such as the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), several of whose members have been charged with corruption.

Hendra Setiawan, the head of monitoring and investigating at the Society of Justice Observation (Mappi), echoed Kanti’s statements, arguing that overhauling working systems should be the major priority of the bureaucratic reform program.

He argued that the system overhaul could begin with government institutions’ recruitment processes, describing them as “the source” of all corrupt practices.

But reform alone is not enough, with the PPATK complaining that law enforcers have yet to follow up on their findings. The PPATK’s deputy chief, Agus Santoso, said since 2002, the center has filed 1,200 reports concerning suspiciously large bank accounts belonging to young civil servants but only a few have been followed up.

Last year, antigraft watchdogs demanded that the police investigate a police general who had Rp 95 billion (US$10.36 million) stashed in his bank accounts. The police, however, claimed that the senior-ranking officer had acquired the money legally. The claim was met with skepticism, but the police refused to investigate the matter further.

Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Ade Irawan slammed the law enforcers for being lethargic in solving high-profile graft cases, saying the public would lose their trust in the government’s anticorruption efforts.

The KPK has claimed it will follow up on the PPATK reports. “We will act upon them and take legal steps,” outgoing KPK chief Busyro Muqoddas said as quoted by tempo.co. (sat/swd)