pywong
25th December 2008, 12:50 PM
Corruption exists in both the public and private sector. The govt should also the private sector as well in the combat against corruption.
JAKARTA, Dec 25 — A high-profile corruption trial of a former top executive of Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group is providing a rare glimpse into the country’s much-feared anti-corruption agency.
Billy Sindoro, the one-time corporate trouble-shooter of tycoon James Riady of the Lippo group, is on trial for allegedly attempting to bribe Mohammad Iqbal, a key official at the country's powerful Business Supervision Commission, or the KPPU. Sindoro had allegedly paid Iqbal 500 million rupiah (RM167,200).
In framing the charges against Sindoro, the Corruption Eradication Commission, or the KPK as it is known by its Indonesian acronym, relied on mobile phone text messages and close-circuit camera footage at a top Jakarta hotel.
Sources also say that before Sindoro was arrested in mid-September, KPK investigators had used telecommunication wire-taps and intercepts and hours of camera surveillance before pouncing.
Indonesia, considered by a World Bank study as Southeast Asia’s most corrupt economy in 2003, has made major strides in its fight against graft. In recent months, it has netted several high-profile personalities, including the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s eldest son.
Last year, World Bank indicators put Indonesia well above Thailand and Malaysia in the fight against corruption, with Singapore as the leader.Bankers and economists credit the KPK for the country's improved ratings.
“Just like the crackdown against terrorism, Indonesia starts slowly but once the initiative gains momentum, the benefits become very clear,” says regional strategist for US-based consultancy Centennial Manu Bhaskaran in Singapore.
Diplomats note the KPK is a major beneficiary of Indonesia’s campaign against terrorism. The bomb attacks in Bali and Jakarta had resulted in the country receiving high-tech surveillance equipment from the United States and Australia. The KPK has tapped on that hardware for its crackdown on graft, diplomats say.
Jakarta-based bankers also note the ongoing trial against Sindoro showcases the KPK’s proficiency in investigating corruption cases. “The KPK has injected fear among government officials and the business community because it is showing that it doesn't play favourites,” says a chief executive of a foreign-owned financial advisory company in Jakarta.
Sindoro’s trial is being closely watched because it goes to the core of the ongoing battle between the Lippo Group and Malaysian businessman T. Ananda Krishnan.
The much-touted regional alliance between the Riadys and Ananda has collapsed into a feud that threatens to lock their businesses in a lengthy legal battle. In Singapore, feuding over how to manage property and hotel company Overseas Union Enterprise, controlled jointly by Ananda and Riady, has forced both parties to the arbitration table.
The KPK charge against Sindoro states the payment to Iqbal was for delivering a decision by KPPU to compel Ananda’s satellite-TV Astro to continue broadcasting sport and other programmes through Lippo’s PT Direct Vision.
In its case against Sindoro, KPK investigators detailed SMS messages by Sindoro to Iqbal, telling him the commission official would receive a suggestion on elements that could be included in the ruling against Astro. Iqbal received an e-mail shortly later from Sindoro’s aide, and KPK officials say the suggestion was substantively the same as what was stipulated in the ruling by the KPPU. — The Straits Times Singapore
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/world/14763-jakartas-graft-war-goes-high-tech
JAKARTA, Dec 25 — A high-profile corruption trial of a former top executive of Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group is providing a rare glimpse into the country’s much-feared anti-corruption agency.
Billy Sindoro, the one-time corporate trouble-shooter of tycoon James Riady of the Lippo group, is on trial for allegedly attempting to bribe Mohammad Iqbal, a key official at the country's powerful Business Supervision Commission, or the KPPU. Sindoro had allegedly paid Iqbal 500 million rupiah (RM167,200).
In framing the charges against Sindoro, the Corruption Eradication Commission, or the KPK as it is known by its Indonesian acronym, relied on mobile phone text messages and close-circuit camera footage at a top Jakarta hotel.
Sources also say that before Sindoro was arrested in mid-September, KPK investigators had used telecommunication wire-taps and intercepts and hours of camera surveillance before pouncing.
Indonesia, considered by a World Bank study as Southeast Asia’s most corrupt economy in 2003, has made major strides in its fight against graft. In recent months, it has netted several high-profile personalities, including the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s eldest son.
Last year, World Bank indicators put Indonesia well above Thailand and Malaysia in the fight against corruption, with Singapore as the leader.Bankers and economists credit the KPK for the country's improved ratings.
“Just like the crackdown against terrorism, Indonesia starts slowly but once the initiative gains momentum, the benefits become very clear,” says regional strategist for US-based consultancy Centennial Manu Bhaskaran in Singapore.
Diplomats note the KPK is a major beneficiary of Indonesia’s campaign against terrorism. The bomb attacks in Bali and Jakarta had resulted in the country receiving high-tech surveillance equipment from the United States and Australia. The KPK has tapped on that hardware for its crackdown on graft, diplomats say.
Jakarta-based bankers also note the ongoing trial against Sindoro showcases the KPK’s proficiency in investigating corruption cases. “The KPK has injected fear among government officials and the business community because it is showing that it doesn't play favourites,” says a chief executive of a foreign-owned financial advisory company in Jakarta.
Sindoro’s trial is being closely watched because it goes to the core of the ongoing battle between the Lippo Group and Malaysian businessman T. Ananda Krishnan.
The much-touted regional alliance between the Riadys and Ananda has collapsed into a feud that threatens to lock their businesses in a lengthy legal battle. In Singapore, feuding over how to manage property and hotel company Overseas Union Enterprise, controlled jointly by Ananda and Riady, has forced both parties to the arbitration table.
The KPK charge against Sindoro states the payment to Iqbal was for delivering a decision by KPPU to compel Ananda’s satellite-TV Astro to continue broadcasting sport and other programmes through Lippo’s PT Direct Vision.
In its case against Sindoro, KPK investigators detailed SMS messages by Sindoro to Iqbal, telling him the commission official would receive a suggestion on elements that could be included in the ruling against Astro. Iqbal received an e-mail shortly later from Sindoro’s aide, and KPK officials say the suggestion was substantively the same as what was stipulated in the ruling by the KPPU. — The Straits Times Singapore
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/world/14763-jakartas-graft-war-goes-high-tech