Rizky Amelia – Former lawmaker Darsup Yusuf, who was convicted and sentenced for accepting bribes, said on Monday that he thought he had received a Rp 500 million ($55,000) traveler's check from graft suspect Nunun Nurbaetie's husband.
The former House of Representatives Commission IX lawmaker made the statement while testifying in the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court. "I thought the money was from Adang [Daradjatun]," said Darsup, who is serving an 18-month jail sentence for accepting the traveler's check bribe.
Darsup explained that he saw Adang's photo in the office building where he received the check. However, Nunun denied ever putting a photo of her husband in the lower floor of her office.
"You were on the first floor and didn't go upstairs," Nunun said in response to Darsup's testimony. "Excuse me, but I have never put my husband's photo on the first floor." Nunun said the only picture of her husband was located in a meeting room upstairs.
Nunun argued that Darsup and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutor M. Rum were trying to implicate her husband in the case. "I object because the prosecutor and Pak Darsup have dragged my husband, Adang Daradjatun, [into the case]," Nunun said.
She said the implication was baseless and made out of assumptions. "There is no connection whatsoever between [Adang] and this case," Nunun said. Nunun also denied ordering her former secretary Sumarni to cash 20 traveler's checks worth Rp 1 billion and to deposit the money into Nunun's account at Bank International Indonesia.
Sumarni previously testified to cashing 20 traveler's checks but said she could not remember who ordered her to do it. "I don't remember [about cashing the checks]. But pieces of evidence showed a copy of my ID and signature," Sumarni said.
Nunun also said she didn't know how much money she had in her accounts. "I trusted Sumarni with all my accounts. But I don't remember how many bank accounts I have. Although its my money, I never made a note and I don't remember," Nunun said. Nunun insisted that the money in her accounts came from her salary from a US company.
In a March 2 court hearing, prosecutors said Nunun not only distributed traveler's checks but also cashed 20 checks and deposited the money into her accounts. "After distributing BII traveler's checks, [she] ordered Sumarni, her personal secretary, to cash 20 BII traveler's checks and deposit them in the defendant's BII account at Thamrin, Jakarta," prosecutor Andi Suharlis said.
Nunun has been accused of distributing Rp 20.85 billion worth of traveler's checks to politicians in exchange for them backing Miranda Goeltom's bid to become Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor in 2004.
Disgraced Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Dudhie Makmun Murod told the Anti-Corruption Court last week that senior PDI-P politician Tjahjo Kumolo had pressured party members to vote for Miranda.
"There was a written instruction [to pick Miranda]," Dudhie said, adding that it happened at an internal party meeting before the election attended by 150 party lawmakers.
The vote-buying scandal has already resulted in convictions for Dudhie and Panda Nababan.