Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Prominent antigraft watchdog Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) says the House of Representatives could be complicit in a multi-million graft case at the National Traffic Police Corps (Korlantas) centering on the procurement of vehicle simulators.
ICW investigator Tama S. Langkun said the questioning of five high profile lawmakers by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as witnesses in the graft case could serve as a strong indication that the House as an institution could be implicated in the case.
"The House must have known the allocation and budget amount earmarked for each ministry and state institution [including the National Police]," he told The Jakarta Post.
Earlier this month, the KPK summoned five lawmakers, Bambang Soesatyo and Aziz Syamsuddin of the Golkar Party, Herman Hery of the Indonesian Democratic Pary of Struggle (PDI-P) and Benny Kabur Harman and Dasrul Djabar of the Democratic Party, as witnesses in the Korlantas graft case.
The five lawmakers served as members of House Commission III on law and human rights, which oversees the work of the National Police.
The five lawmakers have vehemently denied their roles in the simulator graft case. The lawmakers said the project was never deliberated at the House. Bambang even went as far as saying that he was ready to face a firing squad if the accusation that he had been involved in the case was true.
Bambang, however, admitted that he once met former Korlantas chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, a main suspect in the case, at a restaurant in Senayan, South Jakarta. Bambang, however, said the simulator project was not discussed at the meeting.
While the project proposal was not discussed at the House, it would have had to be approved by the House before the National Police could execute the project, Tama said.
"If it said it did not know about the budgeting process of the simulator project, then we have to heavily criticize the House because it meant that it did not do its job properly," he said.
Finance Ministry budgeting directorate general Herry Purnomo concurred with Tama, saying that the National Police needed approval to use funds from non-tax revenues.
Bambang, Azis and Herman were dragged into the case after former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin accused them of being complicit in the graft case.
Two of Nazaruddin's companies took part in a tender for the procurement of the vehicle simulators but lost to PT Citra Mandiri Metalindo Abadi (CMMA) which belonged to Budi Susanto. Budi has also been named a suspect in the graft case.
The tender of the project drew bids from five companies. Among them were PT Digo Mitra Slogan and PT Kolam Intan Prima, which were allegedly controlled by Nazaruddin. The KPK has named former Korlantas chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo and his deputy Brig. Gen. Didik Purnomo and director of PT Inovasi Teknologi Indonesia Sukotjo S. Bambang, as suspects in the case.
The state allegedly lost Rp 100 billion (US$10.33 million) in the Rp 198.7 billion procurement fraud.
The House was further dragged into the case when lawmakers from Golkar, the Democratic Party and the PDI-P reportedly received a total of Rp 10 billion from National Police top officials in return for allocating certain sums from the state budget to the vehicle simulator project.
The Democratic Party and the Golkar Party reportedly each received Rp 4 billion, while the PDI-P received Rp 2 billion in kickbacks.