Jakarta – It has now become routine. Whenever Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators apprehend graft suspects, including the recent arrest of Constitutional Court chief Akil Mochtar, they also confiscate Singapore and US dollar bills, while only rarely finding Indonesian currency.
In four of their last five intelligence-led operations, KPK investigators seized Singaporean and US dollar banknotes.
In the raid on Akil, investigators seized S$284,050 and US$22,000. On Aug. 13, the suspended head of Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas), Rudi Rubiandini, was arrested at his house in Jakarta, with $490,000 and S$127,000 being seized.
On May 17, the KPK confiscated S$300,000 in cash in connection with a bribery case implicating two East Jakarta taxmen, Mohamad Dian Irwan Nuqishira and Eko Darmayanto.
Experts said the penchant for using dollars among bribe payers indicated that corruption had become prevalent and "cheap".
Yenti Garnasih, a money laundering expert from Trisakti Universtiy in Jakarta, said the amount of bribes paid to government officials was now too high to be paid in local currency, yet too small to be paid in ways that involved sophisticated money transfers.
The trick was now for bribe payers to carry smalls amount of foreign banknotes to a meeting spot. "That's for the sake of effectiveness, carrying less bills that they can put into a small bag," she said.
Yenti said if the total bribe was Rp 1 billion, bribe payers had to carry 10,000 notes of Rp 100,000 banknotes, while in US dollars they need only carry 870 notes of $100 bills. "The point is they both want to keep the transaction simple," Yenti added.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Donal Fariz said with Singapore and US dollar bills, it was easier for corrupt officials to place money in offshore accounts. "Singapore is allegedly a comfortable place for corrupt Indonesian officials to save their ill-gotten wealth," Donal said.
In 2010, tax officer Gayus Tambunan, who the police arrested for his role in an alleged graft syndicate involving tax and law enforcement officials, was arrested in Singapore after hiding there with his wife Milana and their three children.
The family had moved from one luxury hotel to another, including a stay at a five-star hotel in the famous Orchard shopping area, which charges its guests between S$390 and $1,800 per night.
Yenti of Trisakti University said the Singapore and US currencies were stable. She added that no graft suspects would ask for payment in Australian dollars, nor have the money wired to them.
She said that tracking the movement of money delivered to graft suspects would be easy if banks and money changer outlets complied with Law No.8/2010 on money laundering, requiring them to report any transactions worth more Rp 500 million. (hrl)