Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD announced that the government has officially formed a high-level task force to supervise the handling and resolution of suspected money laundering in suspicious transactions worth IDR 349 trillion within the Finance Ministry.
Mahfud, who is also the Head of the National Coordination Committee for Money Laundering Prevention (Komite Nasional Pencegahan dan Pemberantasan Tindak Pidana Pencucian Uang – KNPP TPPU), stated that the formation of the task force is in accordance with the results of a meeting on April 10, 2023. The announcement was then conveyed to the Indonesian Parliament through a hearing session with the House of Representatives’ Commission III on the following day.
Mahfud explained that the money laundering task force will be responsible for supervising and evaluating the handling of reports on the results of analysis (Laporan Hasil Analisis – LHA), audit report (Laporan Hasil Pemeriksaan – LHP), and information on alleged money laundering.
Involved parties in the money laundering task force
According to Mahfud, the money laundering task force involves the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, the Finance Ministry, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), the Attorney General’s Office, the State Intelligence Agency, and the National Police.
Moreover, the money laundering task force consists of a steering team, an executing team, and a working group.
A steering team consists of:
- Mahfud MD,
- The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartanto, and
- The Head of PPATK Ivan Yustiavandana.
Mahfud then explained the execution team consists of:
- Chair: The Deputy III for Legal and Human Rights Coordination of the Coordinating Ministry of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs,
- Vice Chair: The Deputy V for Coordination of Security and Public Order,
- Secretary: The Director of Analysis and Examination I of PPATK as the secretary,
- The Director General of Taxacation of the Finance Ministry,
- The Director General of Customs and Excise of the Finance Ministry,
- The Inspector of the Finance Ministry,
- The Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes of the Attorney General’s Office of the RI,
- The Deputy Chief of the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Indonesian National Police,
- The Deputy for Counter-Intelligence of the State Intelligence Agency, and
- The Deputy Director of Analysis and Examination of PPATK.
In addition, the money laundering task force will be supported by experts in the fields of money laundering, corruption, economics, customs, excise, and taxation. However, Mahfud emphasised that 12 experts will not be involved in handling alleged money laundering cases since they are not investigators based on applicable laws.
The 12 experts including former Head of PPATK Yunus Husein, former Head of PPATK Muhammad Yusuf, academics from Gadjah Mada University Rimawan Pradiptyo and Wuri Handayani, former KPK leader Laode M. Syarif, and professor from University of Indonesia Topo Santoso.
There is also Gunadi, Danang Widoyoko from Transparency International Indonesia, economist Faisal Basri, Mutia Gani Rahman, former Deputy Chairman of Education and Law KPK Mas Achmad Santosa, and expert from Sumatra Utara University Ningrum Natasya.
Suspicious transaction within Finance Ministry
The suspicious Finance Ministry transactions disclosed in March allegedly involved tax evasion, money laundering and smuggling, including IDR194.4 trillion linked to the alleged smuggling of gold, according to Mahfud.
Mahfud said that the PPATK has issued 300 analysis and audit reports on transactions with a total value of more than IDR 349 trillion since 2009.
Mahfud presented the aggregate data divided into three clusters: all transaction values involving Finance Ministry officials, suspicious financial transactions involving Finance Ministry officials and other parties, and suspicious financial transactions related to authority.
Of those transactions, IDR 260.5 trillion rupiah involved companies related to the customs authority, while IDR 53.8 trillion related to civil servants and other parties, Deputy Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara said in late March.
From the 300 reports (LHA/LHP) submitted by PPATK to the Ministry of Finance and law enforcement agencies from 2009-2023, according to Mahfud, some have been followed up. There are also some that are still being resolved, both by the Finance Ministry and law enforcement agencies.
The Finance Ministry will also continue to follow up on the alleged origins of crimes and money laundering (TPPU) in accordance with Law no 8/2010 on Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering that has not been fully carried out. They will work together with PPATK and law enforcement agencies to determine the next steps.
