Jakarta – The cashier at the meat import company PT Indoguna Utama, Pudji Rahayu Arminingrum, has confirmed that the company paid Rp 98 million (US$9,702) to finance the Prosperous Justice Party's (PKS) working meeting in Medan last year.
In her testimony in the trial of former PKS leader Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday, Pudji said that she had signed the receipt for the payment the company made for the Islamic party. "Yes, that is my signature," Pudji said when a KPK prosecutor showed her the receipt.
Previously, she had told prosecutors that she could confirm if there had been a transfer to the PKS from the company if they could show her the receipt. One of the prosecutors, Guntur Feri, showed her a financial record book and several receipts bearing her signature.
"Juard Effendi, the director of PT Indoguna, ordered me to provide the money. I did not ask anything about it," she said.
Juard and another Indoguna official, Arya Abdi Effendy, were sentenced to 27 months in prison for bribing Luthfi in a bid to influence Agriculture Minister Suswono to raise the national beef import quota.
Pudji also told the judges that she had signed cash receipts for the former Agriculture Ministry's director general of husbandry Prabowo Respatiyo Caturroso. "However, I don't remember the details of the payments and I don't know what the money was for," Pudji said.
Pudji's testimony confirmed the claims made by KPK prosecutors at the trial of Juard and Arya that the company had paid Luthfi and his aide, Ahmad Fathanah, during the party's event in Medan.
The KPK have alleged that Luthfi asked Indoguna president director, Maria Elizabeth Liman, to finance his campaign trip. The request was made when Fathanah met with Maria in a restaurant in Senayan City, South Jakarta, in December last year.
The agency said that during the meeting Maria promised she would finance PKS campaigns if the party could assist her in persuading the Agriculture Ministry to increase the beef import quota.
Maria, who has also been charged in the case, later instructed Arya to prepare Rp 300 million for Luthfi.
Meanwhile, Luthfi's lawyer Mohamad Assegaf, speaking after the trial session on Monday, told reporters that his team wanted the court to replace one of the judges in the graft case trial. "We have sent a letter to the chief of Central Jakarta district court and the Supreme Court, asking them to change one of the judges because he had been a judge in Juart and Arya Abdi Effendi's trial," he said.
Luthfi chose to say nothing when asked about the money transfer from Indoguna to PKS.
The beef graft scandal has dealt a severe blow to the Islamic party that has long portrayed itself as the nation's cleanest political party.
Several party officials have claimed that the case against Luthfi and the party is politically motivated. Luthfi has even claimed that he was framed by the KPK.
Assegaf said in his client's defense statement that KPK prosecutors had built a weak case against the former PKS party chairman.
"There are a lot of holes in the indictment. The indictment doesn't explain what exactly Luthfi's role was in the case. We believe there are political motives behind this trial," he said.
Luthfi's team of lawyers also accused KPK prosecutors of cherry-picking facts and evidence that they could deploy against their client.
Assegaf said the indictment ignored testimony from witnesses that had alleged the complicity of several political bigwigs, including Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, chairman of the Golkar Party faction at the House of Representatives, Setya Novanto, and Yudi Setiawan, who is said to be a confidant of Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie.