Agus Triyono & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Lawmakers are divided over whether there is a need for an expansion of the powers of the anti-money laundering agency, with some arguing a new law is needed to improve transparency.
The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) should be allowed to announce the names of government official and state institutions involved in suspiciously large bank transactions, legislator Syaifullah Tamliha said.
He called on House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal matters, to reflect that in a new law. Syaifullah said the move was needed so the public could monitor whether law enforcers were following up reports of suspicious transactions.
"The law is not a bible that cannot be revised," Syaifullah, a United Development Party (PPP) lawmaker, said at a forum in Jakarta on Sunday. "The PPATK should be given the authority to announce suspicious [bank] accounts periodically."
Hajriyanto Thohari, the Golkar Party deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), rejected the idea, arguing it could lead to overlapping functions at government institutions.
"The revision is not necessary. The institution that audits and the one that takes action should not be the same," he said. "Look at the BPK [Supreme Audit Agency] as an example: the BPK audits finances and if during the audit it did not follow procedure, you can report it to the law enforcer. The same applies for the PPATK."
He added that the PPATK should ask the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) if it followed up its findings on suspicious transactions. If the KPK does not follow up on the PPATK's reports, it means the KPK is neglecting its duty, he added.
"If the KPK does not follow up on the PPATK's findings, it means it isn't functioning, and if it's not functioning, they should be replaced," he said.
House Commission III member Eva Kusuma Sundari said revising the PPATK law was not urgent. It is more important, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (DPI-P) legislator said, to see that every PPATK report is adequately processed.
She cited the recent reports of suspiciously large bank accounts as an example. Those findings, she said, which concerned employees at the Finance Ministry, should not have been handed over to the ministry, which was not likely to take legal action. Another pressing matter is ensuring investigators make periodic reports on cases they're working on, she said.
Unlike his colleagues from House Commission III, Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party supported revising the PPATK law. People named by the PPATK as being involved in suspicious transactions, he said, should be forced to make a clarification and disclose the origin of their funds. "If they can't prove the origin of the funds, legal enforcers must process them immediately," he said.