John Burton
Tempo, Indonesia (15 Nov 06)
18 Nov 06
Indonesia finding it difficult to cooperate with Singapore in handling money laundering.
Yunus Husein, Head of the Center of Report and Analyzes of Financial Transaction (PPATK), said that Indonesia has twice proposed the signing of a memorandum of understanding about cooperating with Singapore in handling money laundering.
However, the Singaporean government is yet to respond Jakarta’s call up until now.
“Malaysia and Singapore have also experienced the same obstacle,” he said.
As a result, the cooperation will not become better.
In terms of forms of cooperation, he said, there was only one form that the two countries made: legal aid.
“Three other forms such as information exchange, extradition, and transfer of punished persons do not yet exist,” he said.
According to him, legal officers that will chase the perpetrators of financial crime or corruptors in Singapore are forced to ask information from the US.
“If we beg Singapore, they will pose detail questions,” he said.
The small country has argued that they must ask for permission from account owners first.
Indonesia has signed a memorandum of understanding on partnership for handling money laundering with 15 countries.
Yesterday, Nov 14, Indonesia has signed a memorandum of understanding with Myanmar and will sign one with the Cayman Islands and South Africa by the end of the month.