Corrupted Indonesians's dirty money parked in Singapore
-
Padjar Iswara and Ewo Raswa
TEMPO Interactive
12 Oct 06
Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) suspects that a large part of the Rp506.8 trillion in funds parked in Singapore is owned by former embezzlers of state and private national banks.
Teten Masduki, the Coordinator of ICW, said that there were in fact some law-abiding Indonesians who have assets and save their funds in Singapore.
However, the amount of these funds is relatively small compared to that of former embezzlers.
"It's a pity to see they still save their money there," Teten told Tempo.
His remark was in response to the result of Merrill Lynch and Capgemini's survey which reported that one-third of 55,000 Singapore's rich people are Indonesians.
The number reaches a total of 18,000 and their status is that of permanent residents (foreigners who have permanent stay permits) in Singapore.
The global financial organization estimates that the amount of assets of Indonesian people in Singapore is S$87 billion, or around Rp506.8 trillion.
According to Teten, embezzlers prefer to deposit their funds in Singapore because they feel safe there although the origin of the funds is illegal.
The reason for this is that Singapore does not have a Money Laundering Law nor is it yet willing to sign an extradition agreement with Indonesia.
Through such an agreement, Indonesia can force Singapore to surrender bad debtors, including return of assets and funds.
Teten acknowledged that Indonesians also save funds in Singapore because of other factors, for example business.
This is because the business and investment climate in Singapore is very attractive.
"In addition, legal certainty is also good, far better compared to in Indonesia," he said.
Sofjan Wanandi, Head of Indonesia Entrepreneurs Association, made similar comments.
A lot of Indonesians save their money in Singapore because the investment climate is extremely interesting.
The country's government provides facilities including tax and business credit allowances.
"Singapore also provides legal certainty to investors." -
In fact some time ago the US also mentioned that Singapore was a place for money laundering.
-
Totally baseless and crap. Just think for a moment. Why would Indons park their illegal cash here where the yield is one of the lowest in the world? Second, taking money in and out of this country is harder than dealing with drugs. The only reason I see for this article to pinpoint Singapore as a haven for money laundering is basically jealousy. They think all these infracstructures are ill gotten gains from Indon.Rubbish. These are Singaporeans blood and sweat.
-
u have a pointOriginally posted by highway69:Totally baseless and crap. Just think for a moment. Why would Indons park their illegal cash here where the yield is one of the lowest in the world? Second, taking money in and out of this country is harder than dealing with drugs. The only reason I see for this article to pinpoint Singapore as a haven for money laundering is basically jealousy. They think all these infracstructures are ill gotten gains from Indon.Rubbish. These are Singaporeans blood and sweat.
if most of them obtain their assests via illegal means,they would have dump it in the swiss bank -
0lala and highway69: Precisely!
If these Indons are indeed that rich, and are indeed that eager to get their money out of Indonesia, AND if they're indeed that bad/corrupted, they would have dumped their gold into a Swiss Bank, where neutrality and denial of the UN and good interest rates are an even better option. Like the way Ferdinand Marcos did to poor Philipines.
And it makes me even more enraged that they're blowing their haze over here. Do something about the #$@& El Nino!