JAKARTA, LITERASIHUKUM.COM — The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has uncovered a trend of increasingly systematic white-collar crime in concealing assets obtained from corruption. The anti-corruption agency highlights the massive involvement of those closest to or circle the main suspects as instruments of money laundering or layering (layering). The parties involved include immediate family members, relatives, and even illegitimate partners or mistresses.

This modus operandi is designed in such a way as to obscure the trail of funds so that it is not easily detected by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) or investigators. In this chain of crime, those closest are often not only passive recipients of funds, but in some cases are also involved as active planners and intermediaries. One concrete example of this phenomenon is the corruption scandal within the Bekasi Regency Government, which confirms the existence of a conspiracy of evil between father and son.

More astonishingly, a typological analysis from the KPK also noted a specific trend involving third parties. As many as 81 percent of male corruption perpetrators were detected channeling the proceeds of their crimes to parties who had clandestine romantic relationships or affairs.

Criminal Charges of Money Laundering for Passive Acquirers

In terms of the doctrine of special criminal law, the involvement of circle those closest in managing the proceeds of crime is a classic form of the layering stage (layering) and integration (integration) in the anatomy of Money Laundering Crimes (TPPU). Individuals who receive the flow of illicit funds, even if not directly involved in the predicate crime (predicate crime) such as bribery or embezzlement of budget funds, remain not immune from the clutches of law enforcement.

Referring to Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of the Crime of Money Laundering, any party who receives, controls, or uses assets that they know or should suspect are the proceeds of a crime can be subject to criminal sanctions (passive money laundering). This juridical consequence affirms that the recipient of funds cannot hide behind the excuse of ignorance if they fail to prove the legitimacy of the origin of the acquisition of their assets (omkering van bewijslast or reverse burden of proof).

Responding to the massive phenomenon of involvement circle in this, the KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) through the Directorate of Education and Public Participation is revamping its prevention strategy. Anti-corruption education and socialization no longer exclusively target state administrators, but are being expanded to the domestic sphere. Integrity building for partners, families, and the closest environment is becoming a crucial focus in order to build the first moral defense so that families do not fall into becoming accomplices in receiving dirty money.