An Indonesian army officer was allegedly paid about $A80,000 for his part in sending six asylum seeker boats to Australia, including one that sank off Java in December, costing as many as 200 lives.
But the money paid to Sergeant Ilmun Abdul Said is just a fraction of that made by the people smuggler behind the ill-fated venture, who is believed to have pocketed more than $A2 million.
Sgt Said is facing court in Madiun, in East Java, for his role in organising a boat which sank on December 17 last year en route to Christmas Island with about 250 asylum seekers on board. Just 49 people survived the disaster.
Prosecutors allege Sgt Said was paid almost $A80,000 – a massive sum by Indonesian standards – over a number of months to help facilitate the passage of six asylum seeker boats to Christmas Island.
He has so far refused to reveal the identity of the people-smuggling kingpin who Indonesian authorities believe has made millions profiting from asylum seekers desperate to go to Australia. "He's been doing this since 2011. But he is covering for the bigger player," a source with the Madiun prosecutors office told AAP.
It is understood that Sgt Said may have been working for people-smuggling kingpin Sayed Abbas. Abbas is currently detained in Indonesia, and the Australian government has made it clear in the past that it would like to extradite him to face people-smuggling charges.
It is alleged Sgt Said distributed payments to other Indonesian Military (TNI) officers to ensure the operation's success.
He's also accused of obtaining the vessels to be used to make the perilous crossing to Christmas Island, paying local fishermen RP15,000 ($A500) for their rickety boats. "For each operation, he was paid RP130 million ($A13,000)," the source told AAP.
"Each sailing, for each of his colleagues, he gave RP15 million ($A1500). For the boat, each time he gave RP5 million ($A500). It's all paid once those people leave for Australia. He's been doing this five times before the last time. The sixth time was when the boat sunk and that's when he was caught."
While members of Indonesian military (TNI) have been implicated in people-smuggling cases in the past, their roles are commonly limited to acting as escorts.
However, it's alleged Sgt Said played a major role in organising passage of asylum seeker boats, including providing advice as to which ports they should depart from in order to avoid detection.