Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – Three state agencies charged with combating corruption and money laundering signed agreements Monday to improve their coordination in the fight against white-collar crime.
The agreements between the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK) principally envisage increased information and personnel exchanges, and joint education, training and research programs.
"These agreements will be put into effect so as to create synergies between these state agencies. This is essential given that each agency has its own unique powers and capabilities," BPK director Anwar Nasution said before the signing of the MoUs.
He said the BPK only had the power to audit state funds and that, unlike other institutions such as the police and the KPK, the agency could not conduct investigations.
In his speech, KPK director Taufiequrrahman Ruki expressed a similar view about the importance of combining forces. "Corruption and money laundering are transnational crimes that have to be handled cooperatively given that they involve not only local agencies but also overseas ones."
While the BPK, KPK and the PPATK had worked together on numerous occasions in the past, Ruki expressed the hope that the latest agreements would ensure deeper and better collaboration between the three agencies.
PPATK director Yunus Hussein said that full interagency cooperation was the key to solving complex crimes such as money laundering.
"I remember my visit to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in America. There is a statement hung up on the wall there saying 'the most effective way to combat crime is cooperation'." He said that the PPATK had been conducting its operations in collaboration with 11 other government agencies, mostly helping them with their inquiries into cases involving financial transactions.
Since its establishment in 2002, the PPATK uncovered two million suspicious crossborder transactions, he added. "So far, we have submitted 400 of these cases to prosecutors, with only six acquittals thus far. We have employed other regulations in dealing with the remaining cases," Yunus said.
When asked about the current status of alleged cases of Indonesian money laundering overseas, including in Singapore, Yunus said that some progress had been achieved and that Singapore was becoming more cooperative.
"We have seen some changes in the policy of the Singaporean government. Unlike in previous years, they are now more willing to respond to our inquiries." Singapore is considered by many in Indonesia as a safe haven for white-collar criminals due to its perceived unwillingness to provide information on capital inflow and outflow.