Totality in Catching Fugitives

KOMPAS/PRAYOGI DWI SULISTYO

Maria Pauline Lumowa, a fugitive of the Bank BNI Kebayoran Baru graft case, which incurred state losses of Rp 1.2 trillion (US$83 million) in 2003, arrives at the VIP room of Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday (9/7/2020).

The extradition of Maria Pauline Lumowa, almost 17 years after she fled the country, shows the weakness of law enforcement agencies in tracking down graft fugitives.

Maria, a suspect in the loan fraud case involving BNI’s Kebayoran Baru branch that caused Rp 1.2 trillion in state losses, had been on the wanted list since 2003. The co-owner of the Gramarindo business group allegedly had a hand in creating a fictitious letter of credit (L/C) to make Rp 1.7 trillion in illicit gains. She lived in Singapore until 2004, and obtained Dutch citizenship (Kompas, 17/2/2004).

At the end of December 2003, then-National Police chief Gen. Da\'i Bachtiar was furious as he imagined Maria having a leisurely drink with reporters at a hotel in Singapore. "Yes, it’s sad. If she were in Indonesian jurisdiction, we would arrest her immediately. The problem is that she is outside Indonesian jurisdiction," he said at the time (Kompas, 31/12/2003).

Also read : Playing with Law

While she was on the lam in Singapore, Maria was indeed interviewed by the media, which infuriated Da\'i Bachtiar. This is understandable because the hands of the National Police and other law enforcement agencies were tied, because Maria was out of their reach. Good news came on 22 Oct. 2004, when the police apprehended Adrian Waworuntu, Maria’s business partner who had also been named as a suspect in the BNI Kebayoran Baru fraud case.

Maria was extradited to Indonesia 17 years later on Wednesday, 8 July 2020. With the cooperation of the Republic of Serbia, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly escorted Maria back from Belgrade to Jakarta.

Also read : Chance to Catch Joko Tjandra

KOMPAS/DANU KUSWORO

The South Jakarta District Court judges chaired by Soedarto, Monday (28/8/2000), acquit Bali corruption case defendant Djoko Tjandra of all charges. The panel of judges was of the opinion that the case involving Joko Tjandra was a civil case.

This is not the first time that the hunt for a graft suspect or convict has taken more than a dozen years and prompted public debate. Even with the authorities’ many resources, from funding to information to law enforcement networks across a variety of state institutions, these fugitives were able to escape justice.

Most recently, law enforcement officers were startled to learn that Bank Bali graft convict and fugitive Joko S. Tjandra had been in Jakarta on 8 June 2020. Joko, according to a Kompas investigation, appeared at the South Grogol subdistrict office in Kebayoran Lama to obtain an electronic ID card. From the subdistrict office, Joko and his lawyer went to the South Jakarta District Court to submit a request for a case review on the Supreme Court\'s ruling in his case.

Joko was not apprehended then, reportedly because the authorities were unaware that he had resurfaced in Indonesia. What happened so that our law enforcement apparatus was unable to keep track of a fugitive’s movements?

Also read : Attorney General Promises to Catch Joko Tjandra

Maria\'s extradition and capture should prompt law enforcement agencies to hunt down other graft fugitives, including Joko Tjandra. White-collar crimes have negative implications for the country\'s economy, ranging from loss of public trust in banks and to increased poverty due to a handful of people pursuing their personal interests.

The law must be enforced continuously and indiscriminately, and not haphazardly. Don’t renew the hunt for fugitives of the law only after a particular case becomes a public issue.