JAKARTA, 10 May 2007 - Indonesia will seek the extradition of 15 businessmen believed to be hiding millions of dollars in stolen state funds in Singapore, according to the new Attorney General Hendarman Supanji. In his first statement since being appointed last Tuesday, Supanji said authorities had compiled a list of suspects. No names were released, but local media identified them as being Indonesian Chinese who owned commercial banks when the banking system collapsed in 1997.

An extradition treaty with Singapore was signed last month in an effort to help Indonesia recover billions of dollars of money stolen during the 1997-1998 financial crisis. This treaty has not become law yet. Indonesia also signed a similar pact with Malaysia, the Philippines and Hong Kong and is currently negotiating similar treaties with Canada and China.

Critics say that the suspects can easily flee the countries or simply transfer their funds to outside the country. Many are said to have changed nationality by now. Supanji became top prosecutor during a cabinet shake-up earlier this week. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reshuffled his cabinet partially for countering allegations of being weak on corruption.

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