The notorious former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin is maintaining his power and influence despite being locked up in jail on charges of corruption.

Tempo Magazine reported in its Monday edition that Nazaruddin has turned the Cipinang Penitentiary into his new office where he can freely hold regular weekly meetings with former Permai Group employees still loyal to him.

The magazine reported that Nazaruddin, who was convicted last April and sentenced to seven years in prison for bid-rigging linked to a construction project for the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, has been holding his weekly meetings every Saturday since last year.

The meetings are held from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and he is able to use the prison's consultation room on the second floor, which was located near the penitentiary security head's office.

An inmate told Tempo magazine that the meetings were usually attended by 10 to 15 of Nazaruddin's employees and that at around sunset one of the wardens would knock on the door to break up the meeting.

"They go home past visiting hours," the inmate was quoted by Tempo magazine on Monday.

Several sources also said that Nazaruddin once told meeting participants about his obsession with leaving the prison as one of the richest men in Indonesia.

Nazaruddin ordered his men to create at least 25 companies with each company hiring 10 to 20 employees.

Nazaruddin also appointed three people as his confidants – Aan Ikhyaudin, Baskoro and Tabah Kurniawan – to manage the business.

"If you see potential applicants, offer them the position as director," said one of the sources, imitating Nazaruddin's instruction.

He added that Nazaruddin prioritized former Permai Group employees to become directors.

Once they are appointed as directors, they are instructed to open new companies and are allowed to decide on the names and locations of the companies, subject to approval from the confidants.

Once approved, the directors submit the budget to open the new companies to Baskoro and Tabah, who later submitted them to Aan.

The men discuss the plans at the Saturday meetings to seek Nazaruddin's approval. Once approved, Nazaruddin is believed to instruct his relative Yusna, also known as Dona, who served as the group's treasurer, to disburse the money.

Nazaruddin has unleashed a torrent of allegations against former party colleagues and fellow legislators.

One of those, Angelina Sondakh, a former Democratic legislator, was in January convicted in a separate bid-rigging case, while two other Democrats – Andi Mallarangeng, the ex-sports minister, and Anas Urbaningrum, the former party chairman – have been named suspects in another case brought to light by Nazaruddin.

Most recently, he accused two legislators from the Golkar Party and one from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) of being involved in rigging the contract to procure driving simulators for the National Police traffic department.

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights fired the head of Jakarta's Cipinang Penitentiary in April for allowing Nazaruddin to spend nine days in a hospital.

"Nazaruddin was out of the Cipinang Penitentiary, [he was being treated] at Abdi Waluyo Hospital in Jakarta," said the ministry's secretary-general Bambang Rantam Sariwanto.

Nazaruddin, who was undergoing treatment for gallstones from April 11 to 20, was able to briefly reunite with wife Neneng Sri Wahyuni, also a graft convict, who was undergoing treatment at the same hospital.