http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/foreign-currencies-not-rupiah-remain-corruptors-choice/446952
Foreign Currencies, Not Rupiah Remain Corruptors' Choice Ulma Haryanto | June 14, 2011 When antigraft officials busted Sports Ministry secretary Wafid Muharram in his office in April for suspected bribery, they reported finding large amounts of cash in foreign currencies, including US dollars, Australian dollars and euros. Likewise, when the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Central Jakarta District Court Judge Syarifuddin Umar for allegedly taking bribes last month, they found him in possession of wads of Singapore dollars, yen and baht. These cases and many others highlight what experts have long suspected - foreign currency remains the tender of choice for bribery transactions in the country. "Besides being harder to trace, foreign monies are preferable for their high liquidity, convenience and attractive exchange rates," Agus Triyono, a money-laundering expert, said on Tuesday. However, foreign currencies and various other channels designed to evade official attention are now coming under tighter scrutiny, he said. "Our money-laundering law already requires financial service providers to report any suspicious transactions to the PPATK [Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center] and to demand to know the origin of such funds and the identity of those transacting them," he said. While the law initially only applied to banks and money changers, an amended version that was passed last year now extends to car dealers, gold and jewelry traders, art and antique dealers, property agents and brokers and auction houses. "All of them have to report any transactions valued at more than Rp 500 million [$58,500] and to identify the customers," Agus said. He added that while the PPATK had the full authority to monitor and audit money changers, there was still no law to regulate the industry, unlike with banks. "We encourage banks and money changers to profile [their customers] or flag suspicious transactions," he said. That could include civil servants who conduct transactions in the hundreds of millions of rupiah, or those depositing large amounts of money well after pay day. Legal analyst Bambang Widodo Umar said that even if a graft suspect was found with large amounts of foreign currency, law enforcers would still need to link the cash to any alleged bribery. He said that was why the KPK had been granted the power to conduct wiretaps and surveillance. "It's very rare for the briber or the bribed to readily admit to their crime," Bambang said. "However, a phone conversation or a text message combined with the seizure of the money would be key evidence." According to the Rule of Law Index released by the World Justice Project on Monday, corruption in Indonesia remains "pervasive." The country ranked second to last in the East Asia and Pacific region, and it was 47th of the 66 countries listed in the index. "The courts are perceived to be independent of government control, but affected by powerful private interests and corruption," the report said. It noted that the country's civil justice system remained underdeveloped, attributable in part to the lack of affordable legal services, deficient enforcement mechanisms and the duration of cases. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
