ID/Aris Cahyadi – Ahmad Fathanah, a suspect in the beef import quota scandal, seems to have been involved with a number of women who were receiving money and gifts.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) recently confiscated several cars, other luxury goods and money believed to be linked to the graft case from at least four women, including a model and an actress.
Fathanah's driver Syahruddin in his testimony against Arya Abdi Effendi and Juard Effendi, who were being tried at the Jakarta Corruption Court for the same case, said that he was once asked by his boss to pick up a woman to be taken to a hotel.
"At the time he asked me to pick up a woman from Hotel Kaisar. If I'm not mistaken, the woman was wearing a blue dress. After that we went to a hotel in Cikini," Syahruddin said on Wednesday.
Syahruddin said that his boss and the woman entered the hotel and told him to wait in the car.
"I don't know [the woman]," he said, adding that Fathanah told him to lie to his wife if she called. "He called me up and said that if [Fathanah's wife] called I should tell her that we were at the PKS [Prosperous Justice Party] central executive board office."
Syahruddin said that he had to later drive the woman to Rawamangun in East Jakarta and then drive Fathanah, who is a close aide of former PKS chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, to Depok.
Fathanah was arrested for allegedly receiving a Rp 1 billion ($103,000) bribe on behalf of Luthfi to steer government beef import contracts. During a bust in late January, Fathanah was caught naked in a hotel room with Maharani Suciyono, a female university student. Maharani admitted to receiving Rp 10 million from Fathanah.
The KPK confiscated a Honda Jazz hatchback and a luxury Chopard watch from Vitalia Shesya, an adult magazine model on Monday.
"The KPK has confiscated goods believed to be linked to the money laundering activity of suspect A.F. [Ahmad Fathanah] from someone by the name of Vitalia Shesya," KPK spokesman Johan Budi said. "Based on her confession, A.F. gave Vitalia [the goods] because they were friends."
KPK investigators have questioned Vitalia twice.