Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) handed a key audit report on the graft-tainted Hambalang project to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Wednesday, allowing the latter to expedite its investigation into the graft scandal that has rocked the ruling Democratic Party.
The report outlines state losses due to alleged illegal dealings surrounding the project's approval. BPK chief Hadi Purnomo said the agency estimated that the project, which was transformed from a modest Rp 125 billion (US$11.25 million) single-year project into a multi-year project worth Rp 1.2 trillion, had caused state losses of Rp 463.66 billion.
"The losses were mainly caused by the failure of the construction of the project," he told a press conference at the KPK's headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta. "The money the government was supposed to spend on the Hambalang construction totalled Rp 1.2 trillion, but it only spent Rp 463 billion."
The estimated state losses almost doubled from what was outlined in the BPK's first audit, where the agency found that the government lost at least Rp 243.6 billion. Hadi said the agency took a long time to calculate the losses as it had to coordinate with KPK investigators first.
The KPK has repeatedly said the investigation into the Hambalang scandal, which implicates two former Democratic Party politicians Andi Mallarangeng and Anas Urbaningrum, depended on the results of a BPK audit of the project.
KPK chairman Abraham Samad said the antigraft agency would speed up its investigation into the case, including its attempt to detain Andi and Anas, now that it had the report in its hand. "We will take progressive steps, including detention, in the following days," he said.
Andi and Anas were the two most promising politicians within President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's party before their fall from grace following their naming as graft suspects for their alleged roles in the Hambalang scandal.
Both Anas and Andi are protesting their innocence in the case. Anas, who won the race to chair the party in 2010, went further by saying the case against him was linked to infighting within his party. He severed his ties with Yudhoyono, known to be his political rival, after he was officially charged by the KPK.
Anas was accused of accepting a gratuity in the form of a Toyota Harrier SUV in 2009 from state-owned construction company PT Adhi Karya, the firm that won the tender to build the sports complex. Meanwhile, Andi was named a suspect for allegedly abusing his authority as youth and sports minister in the project.
Abraham said his agency had yet to send summonses to Andi and Anas, but added it would summon Andi first.
KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said the KPK would submit the report as evidence to the court to show that the Hambalang project cost the state losses of more than Rp 460 billion. The KPK, Abraham said, would also use the report to unravel other cases related to the Hambalang scandal.
The BPK submitted the much-awaited report after several delays, sparking speculation it had been compromised. The audit agency triggered controversy recently after two different versions of its second audit report circulated in public. In one version, 15 members of the House of Representatives were reported to have endorsed the "ballooning" budget for the sports complex construction. In the other, none of the 15 lawmakers were implicated in the case.
Hadi said the 15 names were not included in the official report submitted to the KPK, as the law prevented it from doing so. "The names were included in the working paper examination and the paper was part of the audit report," he said. "The paper could not be given [to other parties] by the BPK," he added.