APSN | Miranda case: 26 suspects named

Jakarta Globe - September 2, 2010

Nivell Rayda & Anita Rachman, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission on Wednesday named 26 former and current members of the House of Representatives suspects for allegedly receiving bribes in connection with the appointment of a senior central bank executive in 2004.

Bibit Samad Riyanto, deputy chairman of the commission, known as the KPK, said the 26 allegedly received up to Rp 1.45 billion ($160,000) each to vote for economist Miranda Goeltom as Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor during a House selection process.

The list of suspects includes former minister and Golkar party politician Paskah Suzetta, senior United Development Party (PPP) politician Daniel Tandjung and senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians Max Moein and Panda Nababan.

Former PDI-P lawmaker Agus Condro Prayitno, who first reported the bribery to the KPK in 2008, was also declared a suspect.

Also in the list is former Golkar lawmaker Antony Zeidra Abidin, who in January was sentenced to four and a half years in jail for receiving illicit funds in a separate Bank Indonesia corruption scandal in 2004.

Forty-one of the 51 then members of House of Representatives Commission IX, which oversees banking affairs, voted for Miranda, but the KPK deputy said two of them did not receive any money.

Golkar's Hamka Yandhu, PDI-P's Dudhie Makmun Murod, PPP's Endin Soefihara and Udju Djuhaeri, of the now defunct police and military faction, have already been jailed for their roles in the case.

The Anti-Corruption Court ruled that the four had channeled a total of Rp 24 billion in traveler's checks from businesswoman Nunun Nurbaeti Daradjatun, the wife of Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Adang Daradjatun, to the other lawmakers.

The KPK is still investigating Nunun's role, as well as that of First Mujur Plantation, a palm oil company that bought the checks, and Miranda. First Mujur is a subsidiary of the Artha Graha group, owned by tycoon Tommy Winata.

Nunun is in Singapore and has ignored repeated summonses from the KPK, claiming she is suffering from a mysterious illness that causes memory loss. "We will prosecute everyone who is involved based on the evidence.

Please be patient," Bibit said. He said the commission was probing three more possible suspects, while three more lawmakers who supposedly received bribes had died.

Bibit said the KPK had forwarded evidence against the three lawmakers who were members of the now defunct military faction to the military police. "These three people are beyond our jurisdiction," he said.

The KPK does not have the power to prosecute members of the military for corruption offenses committed during active duty.

Adnan Topan Husodo, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, applauded the move. "Based on the number of suspects alone, it is a bold step for the KPK. We hope that these suspects will talk and shed light on Miranda's involvement in the bribery scheme," he said.

"I hope the investigation into the case is not over. There are a lot of people who need to be brought to justice."

However, Boyamin Saiman, chairman of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI), said the real test was for the KPK to arrest the financiers. "They are the ones who benefited most in the scheme," he said.

"The KPK must trace the sources of the fund. I suspect that there is more than a single financier because logically there are a lot of bank owners who would love to pocket a senior central bank executive."

House Deputy Speaker and Golkar politician Priyo Budi Santoso also pressed the KPK to completely unravel the case.

"It would be odd if the KPK could not arrest the providers of the bribe. I think the KPK's reputation could be tarnished if they can't," he said.

"We will not cry simply because several of our members have been named as suspects. I think the KPK is working objectively in eradicating corruption so the decision should be appreciated and not politicized."

Taufik Kiemas, speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly and husband of PDI-P founder Megawati Sukarnoputri, said his party would not intervene or question the KPK's move.

Suspects identified on Wednesday

Golkar Party