Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Rizky Amelia & Novianti Setuningsih – The antigraft agency should widen its investigation into the awarding of contracts for the Hambalang sports center, including probing the possible involvement of several legislators in the case, a senior lawmaker has said.
A Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) audit released on Friday alleged that Rp 7.3 billion ($667,000) in funds from state developer Adhi Karya had landed in the hands of several members of the House of Representatives in 2010 and 2011, when discussion of the West Java sports center's construction took place.
I Gede Pasek Suardika, chief of the House Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, called on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate the issue.
"Did these funds really get to them or were they merely sent in their names? This is important so the public will know the individuals who are 'playing around' and those who are doing their job and showing responsibility," Pasek, a member of the ruling Democratic Party, said on Sunday.
Other legislators called for further investigative action in wake of the audit results. Deputy House Speaker Pramono Anung Wibowo said the BPK conducted its audit, its second on the matter, as instructed by the legislature and other law-enforcement institutions, including the KPK.
"This second audit can be used as an initial reference to investigate the Hambalang case further," the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator said on Monday.
Pramono said the KPK will have to swiftly follow up the report. "The initial information is there. It's better for this to be immediately finished," he said.
Money laundering alleged
Apung Widadi, an activist from the State Finances Accountability Commission (Kuak), claimed certain entities had interfered with the BPK audit in order to slow it and find time to save assets belonging to two suspects: former Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng (a Democrat) and former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum.
"It took approximately three months [for the audit's completion], that is enough time to save assets. The suspects think they can intervene with the BPK," Apung said on Monday. He added that the suspects were made vulnerable by the KPK's use of anti-money laundering powers in handling corruption cases.
The KPK has laid money laundering charges on graft suspects in previous cases, including on former senior National Police officer Djoko Susilo in a case involving driving simulator procurement, as well as former Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq in the beef import quota case.
"That [the delay] was done as a strategy to save Anas and Andi's assets, so not everything they had would be affected should they be charged with money laundering," Apung said.
He added that the suspects could have moved their assets abroad while the BPK concluded its audit.
Andi was named a suspect by the KPK in December, and Anas was named a suspect in February. But neither have been detained by the KPK, which said it was waiting for the results of the BPK audit before progressing the case.
The KPK initially vowed to arrest the two men after Idul Fitri in early August, but postponed their plan due to a delay in the BPK's submission of its audit report.
In an excerpt of the report obtained by BeritaSatu.com, the BPK said irregularities found in the case have cost the state Rp 471.1 billion, almost double the amount estimated in an October report.
One irregularity was the Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry letter of request for the Finance Ministry to approve the sports center contract, which the BPK said did not fulfill the requirements.
"The entities involved had allegedly manufactured the tender to announce a certain partner as the winner in the selection process for the Hambalang construction," the report said.
Call for transparency
Meanwhile, Alam Saragih, the former chief of the Central Information Commission (KIP), called on the BPK to publicly release the results of the audit.
"When they [reports] have been submitted to the DPR [House of Representatives], then they have entered the public domain. Information in the House should be immediately opened for the public so the KPK's process regarding the audit can be monitored," Alam said on Sunday.
BPK chief Hadi Purnomo earlier declined to publish the investigative audit's results, claiming the law requiring their release included an exception on audit results that may have negative consequences.
The BPK appeared concerned that results from the audit would hamper the legal processing of the Hambalang case.
"In line with the Public Information Disclosure Law, [this] investigation is confidential," Hadi said, as quoted by Tempo.co.
But Alam argued the exception did not apply once the BPK submitted its results to the House.
Roy Salam, a researcher from the Indonesia Budget Center, said the submission allowed the House to prevent other legislators from being subject to investigation.
"Looking at the political map, there seems to be indications of desires to localize this case," Roy said, adding that the House wanted the KPK to focus on people named suspects in the case, instead of investigating other legislators.
"We are concerned the audit [results] have been submitted to the DPR. We would like to clarify that the BPK's move to report to the DPR is a mistake," Roy said.
Despite the audit results, KPK deputy chief Bambang Widjojanto said the report submitted by the BPK was not the report requested by the anti-corruption agency.
"That is an investigative audit. That's not what the KPK requested," Bambang said on Saturday.
But he expressed appreciation to the audit agency and confirmed the KPK would review the submitted report to see if it could be used in its investigations.
"The KPK will review its calculation methods and study how useful that would be to the investigations," he said.
He emphasized that the KPK was waiting for the BPK calculation of state losses from the Hambalang project.