The same old song
Last Friday’s assault on an arriving Chinese national by immigration officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport was not only a slap to our nation’s face at a time when we were hosting an international event, but also interrupted the country’s struggle to boost its economic growth – particularly through foreign investment and tourism.
The incident, which occurred in the country’s foremost arrival point and at a time when foreign dignitaries were arriving for the weekend’s 18th ASEAN Summit, was unbelievable and a vivid display that violence is still a major aspect of our state institutions, as in this case portrayed by our immigration officers. It has been 13 years since the country introduced reforms in all aspects of Indonesians’ lives and such violence should not exist anymore, and should be only a dark memory.
Cheung Ho Chung, who arrived from Hong Kong on a China Airlines flight, said he was attacked by immigration officers after he refused to give two officers from the airport’s Immigration Office HK$100 (US$13) that they had demanded. “He had a cut lip and a bruise on his neck after two immigration officers ganged up on him, hit him in the face and choked him,” a police statement said.
The case has undoubtedly worsened the image of the immigration office, which has been perceived as one of the most corrupt government institutions in the country, with numerous officials implicated in graft cases.
The Immigration office has come up with its own version of the scuffle. Directorate general of immigration spokesman Bambang Catur Puspitowarno said Cheung had been out of line and had declined to follow the officers’ orders.
Even if we accept officer Bambang’s story as the truth, the fact that the Chinese national suffered serious injuries cannot hide the reality that violence was used. It is thus necessary that a thorough and fair investigation be launched into the case – a move that would help soothe its impact on Indonesia’s image and economy in the long run.
It is hard to believe that the targets of 7.7 million tourist arrivals and a projected income of US$8.3 billion from the tourism sector this year can be met given Friday’s incident. Let us all just hope that the figures will not be less than last year’s 7 million arrivals. The potential losses in the foreign investment sector could be worse, especially considering that China, Ho Chung’s country of origin, has been showing increased interest in investing in Indonesia.
And before everything is too late, action must be taken against such violent immigration officers. This should start with a thorough and honest investigation into the incident.
The incident, which occurred in the country’s foremost arrival point and at a time when foreign dignitaries were arriving for the weekend’s 18th ASEAN Summit, was unbelievable and a vivid display that violence is still a major aspect of our state institutions, as in this case portrayed by our immigration officers. It has been 13 years since the country introduced reforms in all aspects of Indonesians’ lives and such violence should not exist anymore, and should be only a dark memory.
Cheung Ho Chung, who arrived from Hong Kong on a China Airlines flight, said he was attacked by immigration officers after he refused to give two officers from the airport’s Immigration Office HK$100 (US$13) that they had demanded. “He had a cut lip and a bruise on his neck after two immigration officers ganged up on him, hit him in the face and choked him,” a police statement said.
The case has undoubtedly worsened the image of the immigration office, which has been perceived as one of the most corrupt government institutions in the country, with numerous officials implicated in graft cases.
The Immigration office has come up with its own version of the scuffle. Directorate general of immigration spokesman Bambang Catur Puspitowarno said Cheung had been out of line and had declined to follow the officers’ orders.
Even if we accept officer Bambang’s story as the truth, the fact that the Chinese national suffered serious injuries cannot hide the reality that violence was used. It is thus necessary that a thorough and fair investigation be launched into the case – a move that would help soothe its impact on Indonesia’s image and economy in the long run.
It is hard to believe that the targets of 7.7 million tourist arrivals and a projected income of US$8.3 billion from the tourism sector this year can be met given Friday’s incident. Let us all just hope that the figures will not be less than last year’s 7 million arrivals. The potential losses in the foreign investment sector could be worse, especially considering that China, Ho Chung’s country of origin, has been showing increased interest in investing in Indonesia.
And before everything is too late, action must be taken against such violent immigration officers. This should start with a thorough and honest investigation into the incident.
Reforms on top of sanctions
We don’t see the sanctions imposed by the central bank on Citibank Indonesia last week — for the embezzlement of more than US$2 million from customers’ accounts by a senior executive of its priority banking service department, and for its suspected role in the death of a credit-card debtor late in March — as a final solution to banking crime.
Indeed, Citibank Indonesia deserved the severe sanctions handed down — it was barred from issuing credit cards to new customers for two years, from signing up new customers for its premium wealth (priority) services for one year, from deploying third-party debt collectors for two years and from opening new branch offices until next year.
The management of Citibank Indonesia has pledged to strengthen its internal controls within its wealth-management department (Citigold) and reform its credit-card debt collection procedures. But such cases of banking fraud are not unique to Citibank Indonesia. The keen competition between the 23 major banks for big depositors seems to have often led to reckless sales practices and compromises in the enforcement of the know-your-customer rules of Bank Indonesia.
Only a few days ago, the state-owned PT Elnusa oil and gas service company was shocked to find out that Rp111 billion (US$12.85 million) was missing from its deposit account at Bank Mega, after it was allegedly embezzled by Mega financial director Santun Nainggolan in collusion with the manager of Mega’s Jababeka Cikarang (West Java) branch.
Police investigations of the fraud and alleged laundering of Elnusa funds last week uncovered yet another banking crime: The Batubara regency administration in North Sumatra had lost Rp 80 billion from its own deposits at the same Bank Mega branch, which had allegedly been laundered by two senior treasury officials of the regency administration.
These banking crimes reflect an acutely inadequate internal control system that give banks an early warning of employee fraud related to policy violations, self dealing, embezzlement and the theft of customer and bank assets.
How could treasury officials from such a faraway regency in North Sumatra be allowed to open big accounts at a Bank Mega branch in a small town in West Java while Bank Mega has a big branch in the North Sumatra capital, Medan?
These crimes and previous fraud cases at several other banks should give the central bank a rude jolt that it needs to reassess the internal controls in place at big banks, especially within their wealth management services for rich clients. This would allow Bank Indonesia to investigate whether such controls are still sufficient to cope with mounting risks of employee fraud, given employees’ ease of access to systems and knowledge of institutional practices.
Bank Indonesia, as supervisor of the banking industry, should see to it that the internal control system within banks has comprehensive capabilities to detect and prevent employee fraud incidents and to identify unusual employee activity within the mounting sophistication of banking crimes.
Indeed, Citibank Indonesia deserved the severe sanctions handed down — it was barred from issuing credit cards to new customers for two years, from signing up new customers for its premium wealth (priority) services for one year, from deploying third-party debt collectors for two years and from opening new branch offices until next year.
The management of Citibank Indonesia has pledged to strengthen its internal controls within its wealth-management department (Citigold) and reform its credit-card debt collection procedures. But such cases of banking fraud are not unique to Citibank Indonesia. The keen competition between the 23 major banks for big depositors seems to have often led to reckless sales practices and compromises in the enforcement of the know-your-customer rules of Bank Indonesia.
Only a few days ago, the state-owned PT Elnusa oil and gas service company was shocked to find out that Rp111 billion (US$12.85 million) was missing from its deposit account at Bank Mega, after it was allegedly embezzled by Mega financial director Santun Nainggolan in collusion with the manager of Mega’s Jababeka Cikarang (West Java) branch.
Police investigations of the fraud and alleged laundering of Elnusa funds last week uncovered yet another banking crime: The Batubara regency administration in North Sumatra had lost Rp 80 billion from its own deposits at the same Bank Mega branch, which had allegedly been laundered by two senior treasury officials of the regency administration.
These banking crimes reflect an acutely inadequate internal control system that give banks an early warning of employee fraud related to policy violations, self dealing, embezzlement and the theft of customer and bank assets.
How could treasury officials from such a faraway regency in North Sumatra be allowed to open big accounts at a Bank Mega branch in a small town in West Java while Bank Mega has a big branch in the North Sumatra capital, Medan?
These crimes and previous fraud cases at several other banks should give the central bank a rude jolt that it needs to reassess the internal controls in place at big banks, especially within their wealth management services for rich clients. This would allow Bank Indonesia to investigate whether such controls are still sufficient to cope with mounting risks of employee fraud, given employees’ ease of access to systems and knowledge of institutional practices.
Bank Indonesia, as supervisor of the banking industry, should see to it that the internal control system within banks has comprehensive capabilities to detect and prevent employee fraud incidents and to identify unusual employee activity within the mounting sophistication of banking crimes.
0 comments:
Post a Comment