Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Heru Andriyanto – A lawmaker who recently irked leaders of the House of Representatives by calling them "budget crooks" was herself linked to a budget-brokering scandal in the legislature in a report filed with the antigraft agency on Friday.

National Mandate Party (PAN) lawmaker Wa Ode Nurhayati was alleged to have asked for a Rp 6 billion ($700,000) kickback from a businessman named Haris Surrahman in exchange for securing legislative approval of infrastructure projects in the three Aceh districts of Aceh Besar, Pidie Jaya and Bener Meriah.

In addition to the three districts, Wa Ode also allegedly asked for Rp 900 million for a similar project in Minahasa district, North Sulawesi, according to the report from the nongovernmental Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (Maki). Society chairman Boyamin Saiman said Wa Ode had asked to be paid in advance, saying the money would be returned if the budgets weren't approved.

"Because Haris eventually failed to get any contracts, Wa Ode was asked to return the money, but she only returned Rp 4 billion of the total Rp 6.9 billion she had taken," Boyamin alleged.

The evidence for the report was gleaned, he added, from the minutes of a closed-door House Budget Committee meeting on infrastructure budgets that was attended by Haris and other guests. It is unclear if Wa Ode was present at that meeting. "[The minutes] are authentic and I can be held accountable for them," Boyamin said.

Wa Ode told the Jakarta Globe on Friday that the allegations were groundless and denied asking Haris for money. "I have no idea about the report to the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission], but I personally have made a written clarification. For me, the closed-door meeting between the budget committee and their guests was strange," she said, explaining that inviting outside guests to budget committee meetings was unusual.

"I was reported by Haris and another man named Bahar of taking money from them. They couldn't present evidence to support the claim," she said. "And it's strange why their report didn't go to the ethics council. Why to the budget committee? If they think they were harmed, why don't they go to the police?"

Last month, Wa Ode was involved in a spat with House leaders after she claimed in an interview on Metro TV that she had evidence that legislators had tampered with budgets, and accused the finance minister, the heads of the House Budget Committee and House leaders of being "budget brokers."

Her statements led House Speaker Marzuki Alie to report Wa Ode to the House Ethics Council and demand that she publicly apologize on television.

Wa Ode said she was certain that the graft allegations now being made against her stemmed from her remarks on TV. "I'm ready for questioning but if there is no evidence, I will launch a countersuit," she said.

Boyamin insisted that Maki's report to the KPK was not a personal attack against Wa Ode, and said the case was legitimate.