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.