Jakarta – Graft convict Muhammad Nazaruddin claims that he has provided the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) with documents that can reveal identity of those responsible for graft in the construction of the Hambalang sports complex.
Nazaruddin arrived at the KPK headquarters on Wednesday to hand over the documents.
"I come here today to explain the real actors at play behind the Hambalang case. I will hand these documents [to the KPK]," Nazaruddin, a former Democratic Party treasurer, said upon his arrival at the KPK's office in Jakarta for another round of questioning on Wednesday.
Nazaruddin hinted that his documents could shed light on the alleged involvement of Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng and Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum in the case.
Late last year, the antigraft body launched an investigation into the construction of the Rp 1.17 trillion (US$121 million) Hambalang sports complex in Bogor, West Java, following Nazaruddin's accusations that Andi and Anas had personally benefited from the construction project.
The commission later found that irregularities occurred when the project was handed over from Andi's predecessor, Adhyaksa Dault, in 2009. After Andi took over, the project's site plan was changed and the budget swelled from Rp 125 billion to Rp 1.2 trillion.
According to Nazaruddin, Anas gave around Rp 67 billion, allegedly sourced from the project, to several heads of the Democratic Party's regency offices during his campaign for the party chairmanship in 2010.
"We all know the real actors behind the case. Unfortunately, they happen to belong to the ruling party, which now runs the country," he said. Nazaruddin also lambasted the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which issued a report obscuring the role of Andi in the project.
The report states that the country suffered losses of Rp 234 million in the project. It also states that Andi and Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo are responsible for the misuse of funds in the sports center's construction and failed to follow regulations on government projects.
"However, the BPK's audit obscures so many issues," Nazaruddin said, adding that the BPK could have succumbed to political pressure.
The BPK, meanwhile, has reiterated on various occasions, that it always kept its independence when conducting the audit. "There [has been] no such intervention [from any parties] regarding the investigation into the Hambalang case," BPK chairman Hadi Purnomo said recently.
Currently, the BPK is preparing to conduct a second investigative audit of the Hambalang complex, which will try to further trace the flow of funds that implicated several subcontractors, including PT Dutasari Citralaras, allegedly owned by Anas' wife, Athiyyah Laila.
The agency's second audit is also expected to examine the motives of lawmakers who approved the project's budget increase as members of the House of Representative's Commission X overseeing sports.
Nazaruddin is currently serving a nearly five-year jail term for taking Rp 4.6 billion in bribes to rig a tender for the construction of an athletes' village for the 2011 Southeast Asian Games. He was then a sitting member of the House. (riz)