Scientific Crime Investigation in Proving Money Laundering Crimes According to the Criminal Procedure Code and the Anti-Money Laundering Law

Abstract

Money laundering (TPPU) is a crime that has complex characteristics because it involves disguising the origin of wealth thru various transaction mechanisms and technologies that are difficult to prove using conventional approaches. The complexity poses challenges in the criminal evidence system, particularly regarding the ability of criminal procedural law to accommodate the development of science and technology-based investigative methods. This research aims to analyze the characteristics of evidence in Money Laundering Crimes (TPPU), examine the position of Scientific Crime Investigation (SCI) within the evidentiary system according to the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) and Law Number 8 of 2010, as well as review the regulation of SCI in national legislation thru a comparative approach with several countries. This research uses normative legal research methods with a legislative approach, a conceptual approach, and a comparative approach. The research results show that evidence in TPPU has an indirect nature and requires a scientific analysis-based approach to trace the relationship between wealth and the original crime. SCI plays an important role in producing objective evidence thru methods such as digital forensics and data analysis, but in the Indonesian legal system, SCI has not yet been explicitly recognized as an independent piece of evidence and still needs to be qualified into the types of evidence regulated in the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP). The regulation of SCI thru the Chief of Police Regulation is still operational in nature and does not provide adequate legal certainty. Legal reform is needed to strengthen the recognition of scientific evidence methods in order to enhance the effectiveness of combating money laundering in Indonesia.