Farouk Arnaz – The man controversial former chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji has called a powerful case broker operating at police headquarters was declared a corruption suspect by the National Police on Wednesday and arrested.

"We are charging him with multiple offences on corruption, bribery and money laundering," said National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang.

He was referring to Syahril Johan, who has been described as being a former diplomat, a businessman and a one-time consultant to the Attorney General's Office. He has been questioned by police ever since he returned to the country from Singapore on Tuesday, accompanied by a mid-ranking police officer,.

Syahril's lawyer, Hotma Sitompul, said his client was an active intelligence agent at the State Intelligence Agency but that he will retire this year. "He is of much merit to this country when he helps this country to search for people or their illegal wealth," Hotma said.

That might explain how Syahril reportedly obtained various postings at the Foreign Ministry and the Attorney General's Office and his ability to operate at police headquarters as a consultant for the National Police anti-drug department.

Susno told a House of Representatives committee last week that a powerful case broker he identified by the initials SJ was active at the headquarters, had very close links to a former deputy national police chief and was known to all top brass there.

Edward said that Syahril was immediately arrested after being declared a suspect. He said that among the evidence police gathered against Syahril were "wiretapped conversations between him on his phone and another actor. There were several names involved in this case who we will all summon as witnesses or suspects. However, I cannot yet make their identities public because the investigation is still ongoing."

Syahril was charged with violating the anticorruption law because "he was promising" money to some police officers, Edward said. He declined to provide further details, including when asked whether Susno was among those promised money by Syahril.

However, National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said earlier on Wednesday that the police would probe allegations that Susno was among those taking bribes while he was serving as the National Police chief of detectives. "God willing we will prove it," he told the Jakarta Globe but refused to elaborate on Susno's case. "Just wait."

Another police spokesman, Sr. Comr. Zulkarnaen, acknowledged that there was not yet any proof that Syahril had transferred money to Susno. "But we are still searching for evidence to prove it, if any, including by confronting Johan with Pak Susno," he said.

In a text message to the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday, Susno admitted that Syahril had promised him money. "But I refused it," he said.He did not answer when asked why he did not arrest Syahril when he tried to bribe him.

The vocal former chief detective has said that while he knew Syahril, there was nothing improper in his relationship with him. "It is impossible because I exposed his identity to the public. I am not stupid enough to commit suicide [by revealing the relationship]," he said.

The Attorney General's Office on Wednesday maintained that no prosecutors had any link with Syahril despite his brief tenure at the office between 1999 and 2000.

[Additional reporting by Heru Andriyanto.]