Chronology

Between 1997 and 1999 the Central Bank of Indonesia extended US $16 billion in liquidity assistance to help protect private banks from the massive withdrawal of foreign capital from the country. Instead of using the money to help stabilize the economy, some bank owners, including Hendra Rahardja, took the money and fled Indonesia.

19 November 1997:  Hendra Raharja fled Indonesia following the liquidation of his two banks, Bank Harapan Sentosa and Bank Guna International.

1 June 1999: Hendra Rahardja was arrested by immigration officials at Sydney's Kingsford-Smith International Airport on a warrant from Indonesian authorities circulated by Interpol.

November 2001: Indonesia refused to extradite Abu Quassey (accused of smuggling people) to Australia because of Canberra's failure to extradite Rahardja.

22 March 2002: Jakarta District Court sentenced Rahardja to life in prison in absentia for misusing 1.95 trillion rupiah [US $216.7 million] in central bank liquidity credits. Rahardja was also fined Rp30 million and required to pay Rp1.9 trillion in indemnities along with other defendants. Additionally, bank commissioner Eko Edi Putranto and bank director Syerni Kojongian, who were sentenced to 20 years in prison.

14 October 2002: The extradition process of Hendra Rahardja reached final stages as his extradition warrant had been signed by the Australian Federal Minister of Justice and Customs. The implementation of his extradition was delayed following Hendra Rahardja's lawyers submission over the decision.

26 January 2003: Rahardja died in detention in Sydney, Australia while challenging his extradition. Indonesian government's efforts to extradite him were hampered by legal processes in Australia. Indonesia and Australia are bound by an extradition treaty signed in April 1992. Article 2, Section 20, of the treaty stipulates that extraditable offenses include 'stealing; embezzlement; fraudulent conversion; fraudulent false accounting; obtaining property, money, valuable securities or credit by false pretences or other form of deception; receiving stolen property, any offence involving fraud'.

27 January 2003: Indonesia announces that the criminal charges against Hendra Rahardja will be discontinued, but indicated that it will proceed with the civil aspects of Hendra Rahardja's case in order to recover the misappropriated funds. The release indicated that the Australian government conveyed its willingness to assist Indonesia.

April 2003: Indonesia filed a petition with an Australian court to claim the assets of Hendra Rahardja who died in January of the same year. Indonesia asked the Australian government to locate and freeze Hendra's assets there.

March 2004: The District Court of Western Australia and the New South Wales Supreme Court made orders in relation to the Rahardja matter under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, ruling that a total of approximately $642,000 should be forfeited to the Commonwealth.

20 April 2004: In a joint media release (signed by the Australian Minister of Justice and Customs and the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia) the governments of Australia announced that Indonesia will be paid AUS $642,000 [US $574,784] from Australia, of the proceeds of crime after an investigation by a joint Australia-Indonesia task force into the corrupt activities of the late Hendra Rahardja in Indonesia. The joint press release stated that "Australia is not a safe haven for money launderers and criminals should be aware that if they bring the proceeds of their overseas crimes to Australia, our authorities will act together with their foreign counterparts to ensure the proceeds of their crimes are seized."

January 2008: The Indonesian government has yet to finalize a government-to-government agreement with the Australian government to return Hendra's assets of up to US$3 million suspected of being held there.

February 2008: Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO) announced that it is set to recover assets of 81.7 million U.S. dollars in Hong Kong that were siphoned away by Hendra Rahardja. The stolen assets would be returned to Indonesia through the Australian government. The recovery was facilitated by the New South Wales Supreme Court in Australia, which had ordered the South East Group in Hong Kong to hand over Hendra's assets to Australia