HANOI : Taiwanese authorities said they had arrested five persons and smashed a money-laundering band that brought US$ 1. 2 billion ( S$ 1. 6 billion ) of legal money into the state from abroad. Between 2022 and 2024, members of the band- which included banks employees- forged identifying cardsContinue Reading
JAKARTA: Trillions of rupiah channelled by Indonesia’s central bank to some lawmakers under a corporate social responsibility ( CSR ) programme were allegedly misused, said the country ’s anti-graft agency.
“We are talking about trillions ( of rupiah ) but the exact amount will be announced later, ” said Asep Guntur, producer of studies at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday ( Jan 21 ), as quoted by news agency CNN Indonesia. One trillion dirhams is equivalent to US$ 61. 55 million.
KPK’s Asep said its research focuses on whether the money were misappropriated or used for the expected CSR programs.
“If the funds were used properly for CSR programs, such as building of school houses, then there is no problem, but we have signs of abuse, ” Asep was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe.
The politicians are members of the House of Representatives or DPR, one of two appointed chambers of the People’s Consultative Assembly, which is the federal government of Indonesia.
The DPR has 11 earnings and those involved in the Bank Indonesia bribery probe are apparently members of Commission XI, which oversees financing issues, national development planning and the financial services sector of the country.
The KPK has no named any suspects however. But several lawmakers and central bank officials have been questioned, including National Democratic Party ( NasDem ) politician Satori.
Satori apparently admitted to receiving money from Bank Indonesia to fund social programmes for components in his political city after he was questioned on Dec 27.
He also claimed that all members from Commission XI had in fact received similar funds through a foundation.
KPK’s Asep, however, told CNN Indonesia that Satori had allegedly misused the funds in his electoral district of Cirebon in West Java.
The anti-graft agency, which raided Bank Indonesia’s Jakarta headquarters and the office of central bank governor Perry Warjiyo on Dec 16, plans to release further details as the investigation progresses.
The agency first said in September last year it was investigating CSR programmes run in 2023 by the country ’s financial regulators, including the central bank, for potential misuse of funds, according to media reports.
“For example, ( if we find that ) only 50 per cent of the CSR fund was used ( for social programmes ) and the remaining 50 per cent was not used, the remaining 50 per cent could have been used for personal gain, ” Asep said at the time.
Yoon has been incarcerated since last week as the researchers examined his attempt to impose military rules on Dec 3, a move that shocked the nation and beyond even though it was overturned within days by congress. The CIO was launched in 2021 as an independent anti-graft bureau to investigateContinue Reading
MANILA : An earthquake of magnitude 5. 9 struck off the central Philippines on Thursday ( Jan 23 ), the country’s seismology agency said. The offshore collapse had a degree of 10km and was off the town of San Francisco in Leyte state, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and SeismologyContinue Reading
Pavida agrees that credit cards in particular have become an “easy trap” for younger individuals exposed to intense marketing campaigns from lenders.
Non-productive loans- those considered to enhance spending power but no output- exceed effective loans now in Thailand. They include bills for automobiles, personal funding and credit cards.
COVID-19 contributed to another rise in these types of debt amounts as home incomes ran clean over the extended pandemic time.
Mali, a then 42-year-old Bangkok-based entrepreneur who likewise declined to give her complete name, started a car loan during the time the authorities was offering its car buying system. She then has two of them, on top of a loan for an apartment, a circumstance she considers “normal” now in Thai culture.
“A bunch of Thais are in debt because their income is low when compared with the cost of living, ” she said.
Average income in Thailand were about 15,700 baht in the second quarter of 2024, according to the National Statistical Office of Thailand.
Mali admitted that bill had become a “big burden”, although she felt comfortable to handle it going ahead. For this century while, the debt narrative has evolved to be tougher to argue with compared to the past, she thinks.
Part of that can be explained by life- the purchase demands of modern life with the influence of social media- and the changing attitudes of younger years who never more live at home until they are married like in the past.
“It seems like the older technology were paying off their debts easier than us. It feels like a really long quest for us, ” Mali said.
Jack the instructor even flagged the challenges of living in rural areas, with fewer people resources.
“Living in the landscape, there is no public transportation that enters straight to your doorstep. That is why a bicycle is important. And the older generation can even survive without a phone or computer but our generation could, ” she said.
Jack’s position is what is playing out all over the country, Pavida said, and proof of the fundamental problems that exist beyond the visible signs of overspending.
Do not just responsible those in debt, she said, but instead research the “fundamental concerns with the Thai economy ” for both individuals and small business owners.
“It is a monetary condition. But if you ask yourself why people want to buy a car, one of the dilemmas is that they don’t have an option, ” she said.
“And I think the kind of dominant dominance of big company is one factor that has taken the air out for smaller businesses. ”
There could be pain away for the Thai market depending on the next moves by both the state and the Bank of Thailand.
Nonarit expects both to move slowly, forecasting the authorities to try and boost public debt to GDP towards the sky restrict of 70 per cent- above where it now sits at about 64 per cent- to keep the money flowing through the economy over the next five years.
“ But then we will have higher and higher debt. And this is the way they try to push the problem into the future, ” he said.
The alternative would be to let people “feel the crisis and learn the pain” of bad borrowing.
“That’s the hard way. But I don’t think the Bank of Thailand will choose to let this happen”.
Additional reporting by Grissarin Chungsiriwat.
DAVOS, Switzerland : There will always be border disputes in Asia, and China should not be singled out because of tensions in the South China Sea, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday ( Jan 22 ). Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Anwar said thatContinue Reading
SINGAPORE: Indonesian authorities have caught 34 crocodiles believed to have escaped from a Batam farm as of Wednesday ( Jan 22 ), and a local official said the risk of escapees swimming to Singapore was “very low”.
The 34 crocodiles were caught in the waters of Mangkada and Seraya islands, Sepaku Bay, Lokan River and Batu Legong in Batam, said Lieutenant Colonel Mar Bambang Irianto, the head of Maritime Potential Threat of Main Naval Base ( Lantamal ) IV, in a statement.
The largest crocodile caught weighed more than 1,000kg, said Rio Nugraha, brain of knowledge of Lantamal IV, which is leading the Integrated Taskforce for Disaster Management and Crocodile Evacuation.
The turtles have been handed over by the committee to be returned to prison on Bulan area.
The turtles escaped from a breeding land on the island on Jan 13 after heavy rains caused a border around their water to decline, Indonesian media reported. Bulan beach is about 30km from Singapore’s Sentosa area.
It is still not known how many turtles escaped, said Rio.
Thailand has been seeking to suppress health concerns among possible Chinese tourists ahead of the Lunar New Year vacation time as fears have mounted over reported kidnappings on the Thai-Myanmar borders. Scam materials have mushroomed in Myanmar’s borders and are staffed by immigrants who are often trafficked and forced toContinue Reading
China: China’s connections are starting to improve with Japan, India and other countries that former US President Joe Biden courted, only as Donald Trump brings his more unilateralist view back to the White House. The change of leadership in Washington on Monday ( Jan 20 ) could be an opportunityContinue Reading
DECADE IN DETENTION The class of 48 Tamils, arrested in 2013 and 2014, are being held in emigration areas around Thailand. UN authorities say they were detained after crossing the Thai border to find shelter, and they have reportedly been held in de post incommunicado confinement for more than aContinue Reading