The alleged graft case of the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Setya Novanto, is now entering a new chapter.

According to the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), he could also be charged with money laundering.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) suspects that, through a series of complex transactions, he received around US$2.6 million from abroad. The antigraft body believes that, with the help of several people, he managed to secretly move the money from Mauritius to Indonesia without using proper bank transfers.

According to the KPK, the scheme was complex in nature and also involved a number of foreign companies as well as at least two money changers.

Even though money laundering receives less media coverage in Indonesia compared to other related offenses such as fraud and corruption, it is nonetheless an important issue to address in relation to national security. So, why should we care more about money laundering? For one thing, it can be used as an entry to uncover various fraud and corruption cases as well as other serious crimes.

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ Fraud Tree classification, fraud could be divided into three broad categories: corruption, asset misappropriation and financial statement fraud.

Many experts believe that fraud, regardless of its type, will always progress through three main stages: act (the primary offense), concealment (making the offense and the proceeds thereof undetected) and conversion (enjoying the proceeds “safely”).