Jakarta – The head of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), M.Yusuf, has said the number of suspicious transactions carried out by political parties has increased by between 20 and 25 percent ahead of the elections.

"We are still assessing [the situation] but there has been a clear increase in the number of suspicious transactions reported in the past year leading up to the elections," Yusuf said at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by Antara news agency.

He refused to elaborate on the pattern of the transactions. "I cannot give you details as we are still assessing them and we are afraid that if any information is leaked, it will impede the inquiry into the cases," he said.

Yusuf said transactions were considered to be suspicious if a person's financial activities far outweighed his or her earnings. "Transactions are deemed suspicious if someone has a monthly income of Rp 10 million (US$820) but he or she conducts Rp 500 million worth of transactions," he said.

Other elements that can indicate suspicious transactions include currency exchanges used for the transactions and the frequency of the transactions.

"If someone suddenly makes a transaction using US dollars while he or she used to only conduct transactions in rupiah, or they are now conducting transactions every week while it used to only be once a month, we will consider that suspicious, as they have deviated from their routine financial pattern," he said. (ebf)