PPATK CHAIRMAN MUHAMMAD YUSUF:
I was threatened I could end up like Antasari

BEFORE and after the recent legislative elections and just ahead of the presidential polls, Muhammad Yusuf's workload doubled dramatically. This is because the data he must scrutinize at the Financial Transactions Reporting and Analysis Center (PPATK), where he is chairman, has also increased incrementally. The PPATK has found more suspicious financial and cash transactions based on reports from banks and finance companies. "The number has gone up by 20 to 25 percent compared to previous years," said Yusuf.

Interestingly, according to Yusuf, those suspicious transactions are not linked only to bank accounts of political parties and politicians, but across the board. He hopes the authorities will track down those transactions, and determine whether they are illegal or not. The PPATK itself finds it easy to monitor the flow of cash because it currently uses the Integrated Financial Services Information System. He only needs to ask data from banks and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to get what he needs. The data comprises a name, the account number and the place of birth. Today, some 102 million account holders are registered. Law enforcers today can get details of a bank account in less than 10 minutes.

June 17, 2014