Cablegate: Indonesia 2008-2009 Incsr Part Ii, Money Laundering And

R 150259Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0966
DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE

UNCLAS JAKARTA 002251

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS, INL, SCT, EEB/ESC/TFS
TREASURY FOR FinCEN and T.RAND
SINGAPORE FOR S. BAKER
JUSTICE FOR AFMLS, OIA and OPDAT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM EFIN KTFN SNAR ID

SUBJECT: INDONESIA 2008-2009 INCSR PART II, MONEY LAUNDERING AND
FINANCIAL CRIMES

Ref: (A) Juncker-Silensky/Wyler/Williams/Bezek/Ott e-mail
(B) State 10381

1. The following information was previously relayed via
unclassified e-mail with tracked changes from the 2007-2008 INCSR
(ref A), as requested by ref B.

2. As noted in ref A, report provided the USD equivalent figures
reflecting an exchange rate of IDR 12,000/USD. The rupiah has been
extremely volatile as a result of the current financial crisis and
the equivalent USD figures should be updated prior to final
publication to reflect the prevailing exchange rate.

3. Begin text:

Indonesia

Although neither a regional financial center nor an offshore
financial haven, Indonesia is vulnerable to money laundering and
terrorist financing due to gaps in financial system regulation,
cash-based economy, the lack of effective law enforcement, and
corruption. Most money laundering in the country is connected to
nondrug criminal activity such as gambling, prostitution, bank
fraud, theft, credit card fraud, maritime piracy, sale of
counterfeit of goods, illegal logging, and corruption. Indonesia
also has a long history of smuggling, a practice facilitated by
thousands of miles of un-patrolled coastline, weak law enforcement
and poor customs infrastructure. The proceeds of illicit activities
are easily parked offshore and only repatriated as required for
commercial and personal needs.

In April 2002, Indonesia passed Law No. 15/2002 Concerning the Crime
of Money Laundering, making money laundering a criminal offense. The
law identifies 15 predicate offenses related to money laundering,
including narcotics trafficking and most major crimes. Law No.
15/2002 established the Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis
Centre (PPATK), Indonesia's financial intelligence unit (FIU) to
develop policy and regulations to combat money laundering and
terrorist financing.

Law No. 15/2002 stipulated important provisions to enhance
Indonesia's anti-money laundering regime, such as: obligating
financial service providers to submit suspicious transactions
reports and cash transaction reports; exempting reporting,
investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses of money
laundering from the provisions of bank secrecy that are stipulated
in Indonesia's banking law; placing the burden of proof on the
defendant; establishing the PPATK as an independent agency with the
duty and the authority to prevent and eradicate money laundering;
and establishing a clear legal basis for freezing and confiscating
the proceeds of crime.

In September 2003, Parliament passed Law No. 25/2003, amending Law
No. 15/2002, to further address FATF's concerns. Law No. 25/2003
provides a new definition for the crime of money laundering, making
it an offense for anyone to deal intentionally with assets known, or
reasonably suspected, to constitute proceeds of crime with the
purpose of disguising or concealing the origin of the assets. The
amendment removes the threshold requirement for proceeds of crime.
The amendment further expands the scope of regulations by expanding
the definition of reportable suspicious transactions to include
attempted or unfinished transactions. The amendment also shortens
the time to file a suspicious transactions report (STR) to three
days or less after the discovery of an indication of a suspicious
transaction. However, there is no clear legal obligation to report
STRs related to terrorist financing. The amendment makes it an
offense to disclose information about the reported transactions to
third parties, which carries a penalty of imprisonment for a maximum
of five years and a maximum fine of IDR one billion (approximately
U.S. $83,500).

Additionally, Articles 44 and 44A of Law 25/2003 provide for mutual
legal assistance with respect to money laundering cases, with the
ability to provide assistance using the compulsory powers of the
court. Article 44B imposes a mandatory obligation on the PPATK to
implement provisions of international conventions or international
recommendations on the prevention and eradication of money
laundering. In March 2006, the GOI expanded Indonesia's ability to
provide mutual legal assistance by enacting the first Mutual Legal
Assistance (MLA) Law (No. 1/2006), which establishes formal, binding
procedures to facilitate MLA with other states.

A proposed second amendment to the AML law was submitted to the
parliament in October 2006. If passed, it would require nonfinancial
service businesses and professionals who potentially could be
involved in money laundering, such as car dealers, real estate
companies, jewelry traders, notaries and public accountants, to
report suspicious transactions. The amendments also would include
civil asset forfeiture and give more investigative powers to the
PPATK, as well as the authority to block financial transactions
suspected of being related to money laundering. Despite these
provisions, the draft amendments appear to have remaining gaps when
measured against current AML/CTF international standards. The
amendment continued to be discussed in Parliament in mid-2008.
On April 17, 2007, Indonesia adopted a National Strategy 2007-2011
for the prevention and eradication of money laundering. The GOI
held two National Coordination Committee meetings in December 2007
and May 2008 to coordinate implementation of the national strategy.
Indonesia's FIU, PPATK, established in April 2002, became
operational in October 2003 and continues to make progress in
developing its human and institutional capacity. The PPATK is an
independent agency that receives, analyzes, and evaluates currency
and suspicious financial transaction reports, provides advice and
assistance to relevant authorities, and issues publications. As of
end-October 2008, the PPATK had received 20,741 (STRs) from 118
banks, 14 rural banks, and 103 nonbank financial institutions.
Approximately 8,700 of these STRs were received during 2008. The
agency also reported that it had received a total of over six
million cash transaction reports (CTRs) from 133 banks, 55
moneychangers, 51 rural banks, nine insurance companies, and three
securities companies. PPATK have submitted a total of 612 cases to
various law enforcement agencies based on their analysis of 1,215
STRs.

Nineteen cases involving the money laundering offense have been
successfully prosecuted to date. Sentences included imprisonment of
up to six to eight years and fines up to IDR 500 million (about U.S.
$41,700). STRs have triggered prosecution of additional cases
involving corruption, banking fraud and other financial crimes. The
Transnational Crime Coordination Center reports that the Indonesia
National Police have conducted 133 inquiries in 2008 (through
September) of financial crimes which have money laundering as an
element. PPATK reports there has been one case which has resulted
in successful prosecution to date in 2008. The case, brought in
central Jakarta court in January 2008, involved money laundering and
banking fraud and included three defendants. Defendant I (Sefrie
Roring) received 12 years imprisonment and a fine in the amount of
IDR 10 billion (about U.S. $835,000). Defendant II (Sahat Mangasi
Sianipar) received 8 years imprisonment and a fine in the amount of
IDR 10 billion. Defendant III (Hengky Martinus Roring) received 10
years imprisonment and a fine in the amount of IDR 10 billion.
These defendants collected funds from customers without a license
from Bank Indonesia and did not return the funds to the victims.
Therefore they were suspected of laundering the proceeds of fraud.

The PPATK actively pursues broader cooperation with relevant GOI
agencies. The PPATK has signed a total of 22 domestic memoranda of
understanding (MOUs) to assist in financial intelligence information
exchange with the following entities: Attorney General's Office
(AGO), Bank Indonesia (BI), the Capital Market Supervisory Agency -
Financial Institutions (BAPEPAM-LK), the Directorate General of
Taxation, Director General for Customs and Excise, the Ministry of
Forestry Center for International Forestry Research, the Indonesian
National Police, the Supreme Audit Board (BPK), the Corruption
Eradication Commission, the Judicial Commission, the Directorate
General of Immigration, the State Auditor, the Directorate General
of the Administrative Legal Affairs Department of Law and Human
Rights, the Anti-Narcotics National Board, the Province of Aceh, the
Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency, Elections Supervisory
Body, Banking University Perbanas Surabaya, University of Surabaya,
and Gajah Mada University.

Bank Indonesia (BI), the Indonesian Central Bank, issued Regulation
No. 3/10/PBI/2001, "The Application of Know Your Customer
Principles," on June 18, 2001. This regulation requires banks to
obtain information on prospective customers, including third party
beneficial owners, and to verify the identity of all owners, with
personal interviews if necessary. The regulation also requires banks
to establish special monitoring units and appoint compliance
officers responsible for implementation of the new rules and to
maintain adequate information systems to comply with the law. BI has
issued an Internal Circular Letter No. 6/50/INTERN, dated September
10, 2004 concerning Guidelines for the Supervision and Examination
of the Implementation of KYC and AML by Commercial Banks. In
addition, BI also issued a Circular Letter to Commercial Banks No.
6/37/DPNP dated September 10, 2004 concerning the Assessment and
Imposition of Sanctions on the Implementation of KYC and other
Obligations Related to Law on Money Laundering Crimes. BI is also
preparing Guidelines for Money Changers on Record Keeping and
Reporting Procedures, and Money Changer Examinations to be given by
BI examiners. Currently, banks must report all foreign exchange
transactions and foreign obligations to BI. Similar regulations for
non-bank financial institutions have also been implemented. The
decree of the head of the Capital Market and Financial Institutions
Supervisory Agency No. KEP-313/BL/2007, dated August 28, 2007,
amended Regulation No. V.D.10 to strengthen KYC principles. PPATK
and Bapepam-LK, in collaboration with the MCC Threshold Program and
USAID, carried out an extensive KYC campaign for non-bank financial
institutions in 2008.

With respect to the physical movement of currency, Article 16 of Law
No. 15/2002 contains a reporting requirement for any person taking
cash into or out of Indonesia in the amount of 100 million Rupiah or
more, or the equivalent in another currency, which must be reported
to the Director General of Customs and Excise. These reports must be
given to the PPATK in no later than five business days and contain
details of the identity of the person. Indonesia Central Bank
regulation 3/18/PBI/2001 and the Directorate General of Customs and
Excise Decree No.01/BC/2005 contain the requirements and procedures
of inspection, prohibition, and deposit of Indonesia Rupiah into or
out of Indonesia.

The Decree provides implementing guidance for Ministry of Finance
Regulation No.624/PMK. 2004 of December 31, 2004, and requires
individuals who import or export more than IDR 100 million in cash
(approximately U.S. $8,500) to declare such transactions to Customs.
This information is to be declared on the Indonesian Customs
Declaration (BC3.2). The cash declaration requirements do no cover
bearer negotiable instruments as required by FATF's Special
Recommendation IX. In addition, cash can only be restrained if the
passenger fails to disclose or a false declaration is made. In most
cases, the cash is returned to the traveler after a small
administrative penalty is applied. There is no clear authority to
stop, restrain or seize money that is suspected of promoting
terrorism or crime or constitutes the proceeds of crime. As of
end-October 2008, the PPATK has received more than 2,764 reports
from Customs on cross border cash carrying issues. The reports were
derived from airports in Jakarta and Denpasar, the seaports of Batam
and Tanjung Balai Karimun, Bandung, Batam, Denpasar, Medan and
Dumai. Despite these reports, detection capacity remains weak and
criminal penalties are limited and are not being applied.
Indonesia's bank secrecy law covers information on bank depositors
and their accounts. Such information is generally kept confidential
and can only be accessed by the authorities in limited
circumstances. However, Article 27(4) of the Law No. 15/2002
expressly exempts the PPATK from "the provisions of other laws
related to bank secrecy and the secrecy of other financial
transactions" in relation to its functions in receiving and
requesting reports and conducting audits of providers of financial
services. In addition, Article 14 of the Law No. 15/2002 exempts
providers of financial services from bank secrecy provisions when
carrying out their reporting obligations. Providers of financial
services, their officials, and employees are given protection from
civil or criminal action for making required disclosures under
Article 15 of the anti-money laundering legislation.
There is a mechanism to obtain access to confidential information
from financial institutions through BI regulation number
2/19/PBI/2000. PPATK has the authority to conduct supervision and
monitoring compliance of providers of financial services. PPATK may
also advise and assist relevant authorities regarding information
obtained by the PPATK in accordance with the provisions of this Law
No. 15/2002.

The GOI has limited formal instruments to trace and forfeit illicit
assets. Under the Indonesian legal system, confiscation against all
types of assets must be effected through criminal justice
proceedings and be based on a court order. Banking legislation
pending with the House of Representatives would allow BI to take
freezing action on its own authority. BI officials expect this
legislation to be approved in 2009. The GOI has no clear legal
mechanism to trace and freeze assets of individuals or entities on
the UNSCR 1267 Sanctions Committee's consolidated list, and there is
no clear administrative or judicial process to implement this
resolution and UNSCR 1373. While the BI circulates the consolidated
list to all banks operating in Indonesia, this interagency process
is too complex and inefficient to send out asset-freezing
instructions in a timely manner. In addition, no clear instructions
are provided to financial institutions as to what will happen when
assets are discovered. Banks also note that without very specific
information, the preponderance of similar names and inexact
addresses, along with lack of a unique identifier in Indonesia, make
identifying the accounts very difficult. Attempts to use a criminal
process are confusing and ad hoc at best, and rely on lengthy
investigation processes before consideration can be given to
freezing or forfeiting assets. Indonesia has a draft asset
forfeiture bill, which, if enacted, would give a wide range of
powers to investigating officials to identify and trace property.

Comprehensive figures for assets frozen, seized and/or forfeited are
not compiled in a central location. The Corruption Eradication
Commission reports that it seized, froze or confiscated assets in
corruption-related cases in the amount of IDR 404 billion (about
U.S. $33.7 million) in 2008, through October 31. This compares to
assets of IDR 45 billion (about U.S. $3.8 million) in 2007 and IDR
12.7 billion (about U.S. $1.06 million) in 2006.
Article 32 of Law No. 15/2002, as amended by Law No. 25/2003,
provides that investigators, public prosecutors and judges are
authorized to freeze any assets that are reasonably suspected to be
the proceeds of crime. Article 34 stipulates that if sufficient
evidence is obtained during the examination of the defendant in
court, the judge may order the sequestration of assets known or
reasonably suspected to be the proceeds of crime. In addition,
Article 37 provides for a confiscation mechanism if the defendant
dies prior to the rendition of judgment.

In August, 2006, the GOI enacted Indonesia's first Witness and
Victim Protection Law (No. 13/2006). Members have been chosen in
2008 for a new Witness and Victim Protection Body, established by
this law. Indonesia's AML Law and Government Implementing
Regulation No. 57/2003 also provide protection to whistleblowers and
witnesses. An additional implementing regulation, No. 44/2008,
issued May 2008, addressed provision of compensation, restitution
and assistance to witnesses and victims. The October 18, 2002
emergency counter-terrorism regulation, the Government Regulation in
Lieu of Law of the Republic of Indonesia (Perpu), No. 1 of 2002 on
Eradication of Terrorism, criminalizes terrorism and provides the
legal basis for the GOI to act against terrorists, including the
tracking and freezing of assets. The Perpu provides a minimum of
three years and a maximum of 15 years imprisonment for anyone who is
convicted of intentionally providing or collecting funds that are
knowingly used in part or in whole for acts of terrorism. However,
the terrorist financing regulation appears to suffer from a number
of deficiencies. For example, the terrorist financing offense must
be linked to a specific act of terrorism and the prosecution must
prove that the offender specifically intended that the funds be used
for acts of terrorism. This regulation is necessary because
Indonesia's anti-money laundering law criminalizes the laundering of
"proceeds" of crimes, but it is often unclear to what extent
terrorism generates proceeds. Terrorist financing is therefore not
fully included as a predicate for the money laundering offence. In
October 2004, an Indonesian court convicted and sentenced one
Indonesian to four years in prison on terrorism charges connected to
his role in the financing of the August 2003 bombing of the Jakarta
Marriott Hotel. The PPATK issued Decision No.
Kep.13/1.02.2/PPATK/02/08, dated February 4, 2008, regarding
Guidelines on Identification of Suspicious Financial Transactions
related to Terrorism Financing for Financial Service Providers.
The GOI has begun to take into account alternative remittance
systems and charitable and nonprofit entities in its strategy to
combat terrorist financing and money laundering. Bank Indonesia
issued circular letter 8/32/DASB, issued December 20, 2006,
requiring registration of non-bank money remitters since January 1,
2007. BI intends to issue another circular in 2008 which will
replace this registration system with a licensing system, effective
January 1, 2009. Currently 13 non-bank money remitters have
registered with BI, and several others have pending registration
applications. The PPATK has issued guidelines for nonbank financial
service providers and money remittance agents on the prevention and
eradication of money laundering and the identification and reporting
of suspicious and other cash transactions. The PPATK issued Decision
no. KEP-47/1.02/PPATK/06/2008, dated June 2, 2008, regarding
Guidelines on the Identification of High Risk Products, Customers,
Business and Countries for Financial Service Providers. The GOI has
initiated a dialogue with charities and nonprofit entities to
enhance regulation and oversight of those sectors.

BI also issued the following provisions concerning money changers to
improve implementation of Recommendation 5 on Customer Due Diligence
and Record Keeping: BI Regulation No. 9/11/PBI/2007, dated
September 5, 2007; BI Circular Letter No. 9/23/DPM, dated October 8,
2007, concerning the permit procedure, implementation of KYC
principles, supervision, reporting and imposition of sanctions for
non-bank money changers; BI Circular Letter No. 9/36/DPND, dated
December 19, 2007, concerning the permit and reporting procedures
for banks which perform business activity as money changers; and BI
Circular Letter No. 9/38/DPBPR, dated December 28, 2007, concerning
the permit and reporting procedure for rural banks and sharia rural
banks which perform business activity as money changers. PPATK and
BI carried out an authorized money changer awareness campaign during
the second half of 2007 and the first half of 2008, in collaboration
with the Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Program and
USAID.

BI has effective legal powers and policies in place to ensure that
shell banks are not permitted, although there is no explicit
legislative prohibition on establishing a shell bank in Indonesia.
The bank licensing procedures followed by BI effectively precludes
establishment of a shell bank and BI Regulation 3/10/PBI/2003 as
amended by 5/21/PBI/2002 provides that banks in Indonesia are
required to refuse to open an account and/or conduct transactions
with any prospective customer incorporated as a shell bank.
Bearer shares appear to remain a feature of the Indonesian financial
system, as the law previously permitted both bearer and registered
shares. The new Limited Liability Company Law (Law 40/2007), August
16, 2007, prohibits bearer shares. This provision, in conjunction
with the new Investment Law, prevents parties from making nominee
arrangements. Complete implementing regulations have not yet been
issued for the new law and the process for removing bearer shares
from the system is not clear. Previously issued bearer shares
appear to remain valid.

The Indonesian government has established a number of special
economic zones to attract both foreign and domestic investment. In
2007, the House of Representatives approved establishment of FTZs in
the Batam, Bintan and Karimun islands. The GOI established a Batam-
Bintan- Karimun Free Trade Zone Council and has made preparations
for the implementation of free trade zone regulations. Batam
Island, located just south of Singapore, has long been a bonded zone
in which investment incentives have been offered to foreign and
domestic companies. In 2007, 973 foreign companies and joint
ventures had invested more than U.S. $1 billion in the zone.
Numerous Indonesian authorities perform supervision over firms
located in the special economic zones (the Investment Coordinating
Board, the Ministry of Laws and Human Rights, the Ministry of
Manpower, the Ministry of Finance). Supervision includes confirming
identities of investors. In Batam, other authorities exercising
supervision include the Batam Industrial Development Authority and
the Municipality of Batam. The GOI is currently in the process of
drafting regulations providing wider authority for Customs & Excise
officials to regulate the flow of goods through the new Batam FTZ,
given the FTZ's vulnerability to smuggling.

Indonesia is an active member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money
Laundering (APG), and currently serves as the co-chair. The APG
conducted its second mutual evaluation of Indonesia in November 2007
and the report was discussed and adopted at the APG Annual Meeting
in July 2008. In June 2004, PPATK became a member of the Egmont
Group. The PPATK has pursued broader cooperation through the MOU
process and has concluded 27 MOUs, 25 of which were with other
Egmont FIUs. The PPATK has also entered into an Exchange of Letters
enabling international exchange with Hong Kong. Indonesia has signed
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties with Australia, China and South
Korea. Indonesia joined other ASEAN nations in signing the ASEAN
Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters on November
29, 2004, though the GOI has not yet ratified the treaty. The
Indonesian Regional Law Enforcement Cooperation Centre was formally
opened in 2005 and was created to develop the operational law
enforcement capacity needed to fight transnational crimes.
The GOI has enacted Law No. 7/2007 to implement the 1988 UN Drug
Convention, to which it is a party. The GOI also has enacted Law No.
22/1997 Concerning Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, which makes
the possession, purchase or cultivation of narcotic drugs or
psychotropic substances for personal consumption a criminal offense.
The GOI is a party to the UN International Convention for the
Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and a party to the UN
Convention against Corruption. The GOI has signed but has yet to
ratify the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
Indonesia is ranked 126 of 180 countries ranked in Transparency
International's 2007 Corruption Perception Index.

While the Government of Indonesia has made progress in constructing
an AML regime, efforts to combat terrorist financing have been weak.
Sustained public awareness campaigns, new bank and financial
institution disclosure requirements, and the PPATK's support for
Indonesia's first credible anti-corruption drive has led to
increased public awareness about money laundering and, to a lesser
degree, terrorist financing. Increased prosecution of high-profile
corruption cases in 2008 was an important advance in the GOI's
efforts to eradicate pervasive corruption. Further investment in
human and technical capacity and greater interagency cooperation are
needed to develop an effective anti-money laundering regime. The
highest levels of GOI leadership should continue to demonstrate
strong support for strengthening Indonesia's anti-money laundering
regime. In particular, the GOI must continue to improve capacity and
interagency cooperation in analyzing suspicious and cash
transactions, investigating and prosecuting cases, and achieving
deterrent levels of convictions. As part of this effort, Indonesia
should review and streamline its process for reviewing UN
designations and identifying, freezing and seizing terrorist assets,
and become a party to the UN Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime.

End text.

4. Post point of contact for the draft text is Economic Officer
Debra Juncker (JunckerDA@state.gov; Tel: 62-21-3435-9074; Fax:
62-21-3435-9935.

HUME

© Scoop Media