Jakarta – Former Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Max Moein on Tuesday admitted to have accepted travelers' checks worth a total of Rp 500 million (US$56,069), which he said were spent on campaigning for party leader Megawati Soekarnoputri in the 2004 presidential election.

"However, I did not know where the checks came from because I received them from my party, which had instructed us to help 'Mega' win the most votes in our respective constituencies," Moein said after a questioning session at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The KPK has named Moein and 25 other former and current members of the House of Representatives graft suspects for allegedly accepting bribes to vote for Miranda S. Goeltom in the election for the Bank Indonesia deputy senior governor post in 2004.

Moein said that while the PDI-P had ordered he vote for Miranda, the money had nothing to do with the election. "I accepted it from the party treasurer at the House [Dudhie Makmun Murod] several weeks after Miranda's election," he said. (lnd)