Indonesia, Australia Investigate ISIS-Linked Wire Transfer
25 March 2015 14:48 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Australian Government, through the Australian Transaction Report and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC) has confirmed that they will cooperate with Indonesian authorities to track down the source of funds that originated from Australia, which is suspected to be used to fund terrorist activities.
"AUSTRAC can confirm that the Australian Federal Police [AFP] and the Indonesian Financial Transaction Reporting and Analysis Center [PPATK] is working together to investigate the suspicious flow funds, which is suspected to be related to the funding of a terrorist organisation," said an AUSTRAC spokesperson to AAP on Wednesday, March 25, 2015.
That said, the spokesperson declined to comment on the nature of the cooperation between Australian and Indonesian authorities, which is currently underway.
The funds, which is known to have been deposited in Australia, was detected through a joint-investigation launched by both authorities. Although it has been widely reported that the amount is quite significant, both authorities have declined to disclose the exact amount of the funds in question.
That said, it is strong suspected that the funds were going to be used to fund the activities of hardline Islamist group, Islamic State (IS) in Indonesia.
The Deputy Chief of PPATK, Agus Santoso, said that all information relating to the investigation have been relayed to the Indonesian National Police (Polri) Special Anti-Terrorism Unit, DENSUS 88.
Santoso also confirmed the suspicion that the money is likely to be used to fund terrorist activities in Indonesia, but stopped short of detailing the exact amount, although he did say that the amount is quite large.
"This is why both AUSTRAC and PPATK are concerned of the motive behind the transaction," said Santoso, according to a report released by The Australian, as quoted by SBS.
Santoso explained that the transfers had only recently been done, and is cleared through several, unlinked accounts. "We cannot say for sure whether those accounts are related to IS cells in Indonesia - as such, we are leaving the matter to DENSUS 88 to investigate further," he said.
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