Indonesia hopes treaty with Singapore will help recover embezzled
billions
BALI (AP): Indonesia said it hopes an extraditiontreaty it signed
Friday with Singapore will help recover billions of dollars of
government funds allegedly embezzled to the city-state during the
1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
The agreement was signed on the resort island of Bali during a
ceremony attended by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore.
Yudhoyono said the treaty specified 31 crimes, ranging from money
laundering and fraud to bribery and terrorism financing, as far
back as 1992.
"It is good for Indonesia because we know that there were many
banking crimes during the economic crisis," he told reporters."The
agreement will soon be ratified by the Parliament."
Indonesia has already signed extradition pacts with Malaysia, the
Philippines and Hong Kong, and is negotiating similar treaties with
China and Canada "because the fugitives are not only in Singapore,"
Yudhoyono said.
But concerns have already been raised that it may be ineffective in
Singapore because an unknown number of suspects there have changed
nationalities.
Singapore is a haven for around 200 Indonesians suspected of
embezzlement, many of whom fled their country with stolen funds as
the banking system collapsed in 1997, said Teten Masduki, the
founder of Indonesia Corruption Watch.
"We hope the treaty will enable Indonesia to easily prosecute
corrupt business people and politicians," Masduki said.
Indonesian State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said Tuesday there
are "dozens" on a wanted list, but declined to name them or say how
much money was involved.
Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini said last year in a report that around
18,000 wealthy Indonesians live in Singapore with a total net worth
of US$87 billion.
Indonesian Attorney General Abdul Rachman Saleh said the treaty,
based on U.N. conventions, will cover crimes dating back "more than
five years" to the reign of former dictator Suharto, but details
ofthe agreement ironed out this week have not been published.
"It should and can return the assets of the corrupt officials to
the country of origin," he told reporters.(***)
If MM Lee says that the banking
sector won't be affected, it means that he have already taken
precautions to erase the link between stolen money and the corrupt
officials.
Poor Indonesia..letting go of their national assets just trying to
recover money.