VZCZCXRO4989
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0416/01 0691039
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101039Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1786
INFO RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 000416 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS 
DEPT FOR INL CARLSON, BLOOMQUIST 
DOJ FOR CRIM AAG SWARTZ 
DOJ/OPDAT FOR ALEXANDRE, BERMAN, JOHNSON 
DOJ/PUBLIC INTEGRITY FOR AINSWORTH 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCOR ID
 
SUBJECT: Indonesian corruption prosecutors experience first-hand how 
U.S. prosecutes corruption 
 
Ref: 08 Jakarta 2156 - October 2008 task force study visit 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Twelve prosecutors from the Indonesian Attorney 
General's Office Anti-Corruption Task Force participated in an 
INL-supported one-week study visit to learn how the U.S. 
investigates and prosecutes public corruption cases.  The 
delegation, led by DOJ/OPDAT Resident Legal Advisor (RLA), met with 
federal and state prosecutors, FBI agents, judges, police, auditors, 
and other officials involved in investigating and prosecuting public 
corruption cases in Honolulu, Hawaii and Los Angeles, California. 
Since its June 2008 start, the Task Force has begun investigating 
and prosecuting cases, including a high-profile Ministry of Law and 
Human Rights corruption case involving former Directors General. 
However, the Task Force prosecutors' ability to successfully pursue 
corruption cases remains challenged by limited financial and human 
resources as well as bureaucratic and political restrictions.  End 
summary. 
 
Task Force Moving Forward on High-Profile Cases 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶2. (U) The Attorney General's Office (AGO) inaugurated the 
Anti-Corruption Task Force in June 2008 in connection with then U.S. 
Attorney General Mukasey's visit to Jakarta.  Deputy Attorney 
General for Special Crimes Marwan Effendy led a competitive and more 
transparent selection process for the 50 Task Force members, 
assembling ten teams of prosecutors who work on corruption cases in 
four areas - finance and banking, information technology, public 
services, and procurement. 
 
¶3. (U) The Task Force has made progress during its first nine months 
by initiating significant investigations.  The Task Force's most 
high-profile case is an online notary scam that has ensnared high 
level Ministry of Law and Human Rights officials.  Other prominent 
cases include bribery at the Indonesian Embassy in China and 
corruption in improper procurement contracts at the Ministry of 
Health.  The Task Force has set up and is supervising smaller 
anti-corruption task forces based in provincial high prosecutor's 
offices.  This month, RLA will present the Task Force with 
surveillance equipment that they requested as a result of the 
October 2008 U.S. study visit (reftel). 
 
Study Visit Focuses on Federal, State Public Corruption 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶4. (U) Twelve Task Force prosecutors visited Honolulu and Los 
Angeles to learn how the U.S. investigates and prosecutes public 
corruption cases at the federal, state, and local level.  The study 
tour was part of a $750,000 INL-assistance project to support the 
Task Force.  The trip focused on how to gather and present different 
types of evidence in corruption cases.  And it was a golden 
opportunity for substantive engagement with the prosecutors, most of 
whom had not been outside of Indonesia.  The group met prosecutors 
from the District of Hawaii and Central District of California, 
Honolulu County, Hawaii State Attorney General's Office, Los Angeles 
County District Attorney's Office, and federal asset forfeiture 
teams working on corruption investigations and prosecutions.  The 
delegation also met with judges and other court personnel and 
observed live courtroom proceedings, including arraignments and 
sentencings. 
 
¶5. (U) Indonesian prosecutors are also responsible for the 
investigation of corruption cases.  Thus, the group met with 
Honolulu and Los Angeles FBI agents working on corruption cases as 
well as the Hawaii State Auditor, Honolulu Police Department, and 
U.S. Marshal's Service deputies.  U.S. officials presented lessons 
on investigating and prosecuting corruption through case studies. 
California officials highlighted the recent Duke Cunningham 
political corruption case, and Hawaii officials discussed an airport 
maintenance corruption case, a textbook corruption procurement case. 
 In 2008, the Los Angeles-based Central District of California 
handled 50 public corruption cases - both large (elected officials) 
and small (mail fraud by postal workers). 
 
Lessons Identified by Prosecutors during Study Visit 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶6. (U) Defining corruption: The Attorney General's Office defines 
corruption based on losses to the state caused by state officials. 
U.S. prosecutors provided a broader definition by emphasizing abuse 
of power and loss of public trust, rather than only financial loss. 
 
JAKARTA 00000416  002 OF 003 
 
 
The U.S. prosecutors' definition expands the pool of potential 
prosecutions to include both private citizens and corporations who 
are paying bribes, including those U.S. entities that are paying 
bribes to foreign government officials under the Foreign Corrupt 
Practices Act.  In the U.S., loss to the state is only one of 
several factors to consider in corruption cases, whereas it is a sin 
qua non of Indonesian corruption cases.  This limited definition in 
Indonesia restricts what is considered to be corruption.  Thus, with 
election season approaching, Task Force prosecutors do not include 
campaign finance corruption as an area within their jurisdiction due 
to a strict interpretation of losses to the state. 
 
¶7. (U) Restitution only one part of penalty: Related to their focus 
on losses to the state, Indonesian prosecutors placed more weight on 
restitution compared to their U.S. counterparts.  Task Force members 
were more concerned about seeking restitution - recovering state 
losses - than seeking longer jail sentences, and seemed prepared to 
consider forgoing prosecution where a corrupt official returns the 
money.  U.S. prosecutors emphasized that "If you cheat the system, 
you cannot buy your way out by paying the restitution immediately." 
U.S. prosecutors encouraged the Task Force to consider restitution 
and fines, but also not let payment of restitution significantly 
diminish a corruptor's jail sentence. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Surveillance evidence: Investigators and prosecutors 
discussed the range of potential evidentiary tools used in 
corruption cases, particularly surveillance-based evidence.  U.S. 
prosecutors highlighted the strength of surveillance-based evidence 
as it uses the defendants' own words against themselves.  The Task 
Force lacks wiretapping interception equipment (only the Corruption 
Eradication Commission has this tool available), but can use more 
basic recording devises.  In March and April, the RLA will deliver 
surveillance equipment and provide training for telephone recording 
devices and "body wire" recording devices worn by cooperators or 
undercover officers, as requested by Deputy Attorney General for 
Special Crimes Marwan Effendy.  To find cooperators, U.S. 
prosecutors highlighted the importance of plea bargains with 
lower-level suspects involved in cases.  Although some type of 
informal plea bargains are occasionally used in Indonesia, it lacks 
a clear legal basis.  A more plea bargain provision is part of the 
criminal procedure code bill currently in the President's office. 
 
Task Force Faces Many Obstacles 
------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Task Force members raised many obstacles that limit their 
effectiveness on corruption cases during conversations with RLA and 
Econoff.  Task Force members were surprised to learn that U.S. 
investigators and prosecutors have a more flexible budget for their 
investigations and prosecutions.  The Task Force is limited by a set 
budget per case that does not consider the complexity or importance 
of the case.  Further, according to Task Force members, low 
remuneration at the AGO has negative effects on morale and is a 
factor that leads to corruption.  The Supreme Court, Finance 
Ministry, Corruption Eradication Commission, and Supreme Audit Board 
have increased salaries in the past year through completion of an 
official bureaucratic reform process, but the AGO is still in the 
process.  One Task Force member with 10 years experience at the AGO 
earns just over $200 per month.  This same member noted that senior 
prosecutors with 20+ years experience earn about $300 per month. 
The prosecutor did acknowledge that while some low-level corruption 
is driven by "need," the senior-level corruption is often due to 
"greed." 
 
¶10. (SBU) Political and bureaucratic constraints also limit the Task 
Force's effectiveness.  Inter-agency cooperation is lacking; Central 
District of California prosecutors noted that they work with 35 
agencies on investigations and prosecutions.  The Task Force often 
has formal cooperation agreements with other government bodies, but 
does not work closely with these partners in practice.  For example, 
the Financial Intelligence Center (PPATK) receives thousands of 
currency transfer reports (CTRs) and suspicious activity reports 
(SARs) from financial institutions that could be the basis to begin 
corruption investigations.  Yet, the AGO writ large only used a 
handful of these reports in 2008.  Task Force members also noted the 
political considerations when investigating senior officials. 
Presidential permission is required before initiating investigations 
of senior officials (e.g., governors, members of Parliament). 
However, this presidential permission restriction is often 
self-imposed as unsigned presidential permissions after three months 
are considered to be approved, according to one Task Force member. 
 
JAKARTA 00000416  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
¶12. (SBU) With election season in full swing, the Task Force members 
said that campaign finance and other election-related corruption are 
not within their mandate.  The electoral law is enforced by the 
Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), which has an inter-agency team 
that includes AGO representatives.  However, Task Force members 
noted political pressure from senior AGO officials not to bring 
election-related corruption cases before the election to avoid 
appearances of favoritism.  Nine members of Parliament faced 
corruption charges by the Corruption Eradication Commission in the 
past 15 months and there are few campaign finance restrictions on 
individual candidates; Task Force members believe there are campaign 
finance corruption cases that the AGO could be prosecuting. 
 
Attorney General Interested to Visit U.S. in May 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Attorney General Hendarman Supandji has expressed interest 
in visiting the U.S. in May to meet with Attorney General Holder and 
FBI Director Mueller.  While AG Supandji would raise a range of 
bilateral cooperation issues, the proposed visit would be an 
opportunity to discuss some approaches to the challenges currently 
facing the AGO corruption efforts. 
 
HUME