FPI Turns Out To Have Savings In Banks Owned By The Richest People In Indonesia, The Balance Is IDR 1.5 Billion

BCA Building. (Angga Nugraha / VOI)

JAKARTA - FPI, through its legal team, stated that they have a savings of Rp1.5 billion in one of the largest banks in Indonesia. The bank is PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (BCA).

It was also known that the money was the result of donations for six families of FPI Laskar guards of Habib Rizieq Shihab, who were shot dead by police at the Cikampek toll road some time ago.

However, BCA is currently blocking this account. The blocking of FPI accounts was apparently carried out by BCA on the orders of the authorities after FPI activities were prohibited by the government.

Executive Vice President of the Secretariat & Corporate Communication of BCA, Hera F Haryn, said that BCA always adheres to the applicable legal provisions.

"Referring to a request from the competent authority, BCA has temporarily suspended transactions of the customer's account at BCA," Hera told reporters, Tuesday, January 5.

Hera emphasized that BCA as a banking institution is required to comply with applicable legal provisions in Indonesia and carry out instructions given by the competent authorities.

BCA is a bank owned by a conglomerate of brothers, Michael Hartono and Budi Hartono. Both are the richest people in Indonesia according to Forbes.

Quoted from the official Instagram of Forbes Indonesia, Thursday, December 10, the Hartono brothers still occupy the first position with a total wealth of 38.8 billion US dollars or the equivalent of Rp547.8 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp14,100 per US dollar).

Budi and Michael Hartono were among a group of tycoons whose wealth increased during the pandemic. For a dozen years, the Hartono brothers have dominated the top of Indonesia's richest people thanks to their conglomerate company, the Djarum Group.

Previously it was reported that PPATK had temporarily suspended transactions and account activities of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and its affiliates. This is in accordance with the authorities stipulated in Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering (TPPU Law) and Law Number 9 of 2013 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of Terrorism Financing Crimes.

PPATK stated that the temporary suspension of transactions and activities of the FPI and its affiliated accounts was carried out in the context of implementing the function of analysis and examination of reports and information on financial transactions that indicate money laundering and / or other criminal acts.

Determination of the cessation of all FPI activities or activities as stated in the Joint Decree (SKB) of the Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Law and Human Rights, Minister of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia, Attorney General of the Republic of Indonesia, Chief of Police and Head of the National Counterterrorism Agency concerning Prohibition of Activities, Use of Symbols and Attributes and Termination of FPI Activities are decisions that need to be followed up by PPATK in accordance with their authority.

PPATK authority

In carrying out its analysis and inspection functions, the PPATK as a financial intelligence institution (Financial Intelligent Unit) has several main powers, one of which is the authority to request financial service providers (PJK) to temporarily suspend all or part of transactions known or suspected to be the result of criminal acts as regulated in Article 44 paragraph (1) letter i of the TPPU Law.

The actions taken by the PPATK referred to are actions provided by law to prevent any attempts to transfer or use funds from an account which is known or suspected to be the result of a criminal act.

Currently, in accordance with the duties, functions and authorities given by the law, PPATK is conducting tracing of financial accounts and transactions.

For the effectiveness of the analysis and examination process, PPATK has also temporarily suspended all financial transaction activities from FPI, including the temporary suspension of all individual transaction activities affiliated with FPI.

Efforts to temporarily suspend financial transactions conducted by PPATK will be followed up by submitting the results of analysis or examination to investigators so that they can be followed up with a law enforcement process by the competent authorities.