Sita W. Dewi, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has tread carefully in its investigation of the graft allegations related to the procurement of driving simulators, which has implicated two generals from the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas).
Amid reports that one key witness in the case has sought protection from the Witness and Victims Protection Agency (LPSK), the KPK opted to withhold information about the interrogation of witnesses in the case.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that the antigraft body had questioned 15 witnesses in the case, but he remained tight-lipped on their identities and personal information, marking a departure from the KPK's typical pattern of announcing the names of suspects and witnesses and the dates of their questioning.
One key witness in the case, businessman Sukotjo S. Bambang, was previously sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison for fraud and is currently serving his sentence in Kebon Waru Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java. He filed a request with the LPSK to arrange a transfer to another correctional facility.
"We are currently waiting for approval from the Law and Human Rights Ministry's directorate general of corrections before relocating Sukotjo. [Sukotjo] told the LPSK that he was concerned about possible efforts to silence and intimidate him," LPSK chairman Abdul Haris Semendawai told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
"The LPSK and the directorate general of corrections will discuss the matter and make a decision on where Sukotjo should be relocated," he said.
Sukotjo's lawyer, Erick Samuel Paat, confirmed that his client had made the request. "If the LPSK approves my client's request, we can suspect that something is wrong. I can't give you the details for the sake of my client," Erick said.
"My client will be questioned inside the prison as a witness against Brig. Gen. Didik Purnomo on Monday by members of the police's Criminal Investigation Division," Erick said referring to the former deputy chief of the National Police Traffic Corps who was recently named a suspect in the case by both the KPK and the National Police.
Sukotjo is the president director of PT Inovasi Teknologi Indonesia, the company that was subcontracted by the tender's winner, PT Citra Mandiri Metalindo (CMM), to provide the police with hundreds of driving simulators.
When his company failed to deliver the equipment to the police, the West Java High Court convicted Sukotjo of fraud and sentenced him to three years and 10 months in prison.
Prior to his sentencing, Sukotjo filed a report with the KPK alleging that the project was marred with mark-ups that inflated the price up to Rp 100 billion (US$10.6 million) at the request of officials in charge.
According to Bambang, Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who was then the chief of the National Police Traffic Corps, Didik and the officer overseeing the project, Adj. Sr. Comr. Teddy Rismawan, accepted kickbacks that CMM and his company paid to win the tender.
The KPK named Djoko a suspect in the case on Aug. 1 after investigators raided the Traffic Corps' headquarters in South Jakarta.
Meanwhile, the KPK deputy chairman Busyro Muqoddas said that suspects in the case could be charged with money laundering. "If there were any elements of money laundering, we will then used the Money Laundering Law," Busyo said.