Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Ezra Sihite, Novianti Setuningsih & Rizky Amelia – Fresh graft accusations against Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum and the party's former treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin have exposed the scale of the duo's alleged involvement in scandals at various levels.
On Tuesday, Nazaruddin staff member Mindo Rosalina Manulang mentioned Anas's name during an interrogation by the Attorney General's Office into the case of excessive markups in the purchase of laboratory equipment for the Jakarta State University (UNJ).
Rosalina has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison in a scandal related to the construction of the athletes' village for last year's Southeast Asian Games. Nazaruddin is a defendant in the case while Anas has been accused by several witnesses of receiving money in the scandal but has not been named as a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Rosalina is now a witness in the UNJ scandal.
"Rosa[lina] told the prosecutors that she received orders from A.U. [Anas] and Nazaruddin. A.U. was said to have the power to arrange the procurement," her lawyer, Ahmad Rifai, said.
The 2010 UNJ procurement case has caused Rp 5 billion ($555,000) in state losses, with the AGO having named two UNJ lecturers as suspects in the scandal.
In 2010, UNJ planned to procure equipment for its laboratory, worth Rp 17 billion. Two firms, Marell Mandiri and Anugerah Nusantara, won the tender. The latter is a subsidiary of Nazaruddin's Permai Group, where Rosalina is a staff member.
Permai Group is the company that won the tender for the construction of the SEA Games buildings. Several of the company's officials have said that Anas had a significant position in the company. The university's subsequent checks found that the equipment wasn't up to standard and the prices were too high.
Earlier, the KPK said that Nazaruddin was implicated in more than 30 scandals, including markups in the purchase of furniture for Sriwijaya University, the University of Jakarta, Jenderal Soedirman University, Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University and the University of Malang. "Anas is in control, including within the Permai Group," Ahmad said.
Anas, however, has denied all the accusations, saying he had nothing to do with the Permai Group.
Rosalina has been questioned in a number of other cases, including those related to the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and Religious Affairs Ministry.
A number of Democratic Party officials defended Anas, saying the accusations were aimed at damaging the party ahead of 2014 elections. A party senior official, Nurhayati Assegaf, specifically pointed to accusations that Anas had bribed party members to vote for him during the 2010 chairman election at the congress in Bandung.
"External parties have been trying to ruin the party's image with this money politics accusation," she said. "The Bandung election was the most transparent selection of party chairman so far."
[Additional reporting from Suara Pembaruan.]