May.06, 2010
The Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center has firmly dismissed allegations that it leaked any information about a senior police officer reported to have Rp 95 billion ($10.4 million) in his bank accounts.
The center, known as the PPATK, has complete access to detailed financial documents of anyone being investigated for money laundering, as well as the power to freeze assets linked to crimes.
“We have never leaked such matters to the public, that is for sure,” PPATK chief Yunus Hussein said at National Police headquarters on Thursday.
“All PPATK reports detailing the accounts in question will be forwarded to law-enforcement agencies. In this case, we will submit them to the National Police,” Yunus said after a closed-door meeting with National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri.
The case centers on allegations by the antigraft watchdog Indonesia Corruption Watch that two accounts belonging to a two-star National Police general contained Rp 47 billion and Rp 48 billion respectively. The ICW claims its data was based on a PPATK report.
Although he was not named, the head of internal affairs at the National Police, Brig. Gen. Budi Gunawan, said he was considering filing a complaint against the ICW.
When asked whether the ICW was right to claim that the data came from the PPATK, Yunus replied: “I cannot say.” He declined to elaborate.
He said his purpose in meeting with the National Police chief was to follow up on investigations into PPATK reports detailing 1,000 suspicious transactions that have been handed over to police. “Those investigations have been pending since 2005,” Yunus said.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said police would investigate who was behind the leak.
“Those documents are fakes. Someone has been distributing these documents around and they are fake,” Edward said, adding that police would also look into the possibility that the person distributing the documents could be a police officer.
Tama S Langkun, an ICW researcher, said earlier: “From 2005 to 2008, this police general received payments from individuals and private companies. We hope the task force can order the PPATK to trace the trans actions back to their sources.”
The PPATK report, a copy of which was obtained by the Jakarta Globe, identified the accounts as holding large sums of money, but said there was no problem “as long as he could give a reasonable explanation about where the money came from and show that the transactions were not related to his position.”
The report said the flow of funds should be investigated for possible links to the general’s position that might constitute payment of gratuities. Budi’s wealth report in 2009 put his fortune at Rp 4.6 billion.
The document also named two companies that allegedly transferred funds into the accounts — PT Masindo and PT Sumber Jaya Indah. They were investigated by police but it was unclear whether any further action was taken.