Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Anti-money laundering investigators have identified 21 suspicious transactions carried out by a member of the House of Representatives' much-criticized Budget Committee, officials revealed on Friday.

Priyo Budi Santoso, deputy House speaker for the Golkar Party, said he was initially shocked when the findings were presented in a closed meeting on Thursday by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK).

"The House leadership hasn't decided yet whether to forward this information to the House Ethics Council [for a probe]," Priyo said.

He declined to name the legislator identified by the PPATK, saying it would be unethical to do so at this point. "But the House leadership agrees that it must be further pushed toward a legal investigation," he said.

The House Budget Committee body was allegedly one of the recipients of a Rp 1.5 billion ($171,000) bribe handed to two Manpower Ministry officials last week by a contractor.

The committee has also been accused of taking kickbacks associated with projects at several other ministries, including the contract to build the athletes' village in Palembang for the Southeast Asian Games.

A witness in that case has testified that a company owned by graft suspect and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin – a member of the committee – had spent around Rp 16 billion in bribes to secure various contracts related to the Games. The witness also said the firm had set aside money to bribe legislators, often from more than one party.

Priyo said the PPATK's findings highlighted the agency's commitment to "get to the bottom of the allegations surrounding the Budget Committee."

Pramono Anung, the House deputy speaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), echoed the praise, calling the information "valid and credible."

He added that it was vital for the authorities to gather data that would reveal the "hanky-panky going on between the committee and its contract partners."

"It's obvious that such suspicious transactions involve three groups: the government, the contractors or brokers and insiders on the Budget Committee," Pramono said. "This collusion must be tackled with all due seriousness."

The deputy speakers' ringing endorsement of the PPATK came as the agency's chairman, Yunus Husein, vied for a position as deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Yunus is one of eight candidates that House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, is expected to vet. Several Commission III legislators have previously questioned his close links to the inner circle of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Pramono said the House leadership had invited the current KPK leadership to send a representative to sit in on all future budget discussions by the Budgt Committee.

"To date the KPK has not been privy to these discussions, but it's important that it is because the issue extends far beyond the committee itself," he said.

[Additional reporting by Antara.]