Novianti Setuningsih – The Minister for Agriculture, Suswono, has admitted to liaising with a central suspect in the beef import quota scandal in a hearing at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court on Thursday.
"I met with Sengman. He came over to my official residence," Suswono said, referring to the suspect, a businessman who is alleged to have handled Rp 40 billion ($3.7 million) involved in the graft case, during the former Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq's trial.
Suswono, who is also a member of the PKS's board of advisors said Sengman claimed to be a close aide of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "When he came, he told me how he knew [the president] and that he was close to SBY," Suswono said.
He added that Sengman brought along a list of companies that were requesting to receive the beef import quota from the Agriculture Ministry and noted that it was unusual for the suspect to be involved in that line of business.
Suswono claimed that in response to Sengman's request he said he emphasized the ministry's regulations and that the suspect should comply with them if he wanted to become a beef importer. In a separate hearing another witness, Ridwan Hakim, who testified in late August, told judges that Sengman was President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's bagman.
In a recording obtained by investigators, Fathanah tells Ridwan that a man named Sengman had delivered Rp 40 billion to another man, referred to as "Engkong," at a PKS function in Lembang, West Java. He is also heard saying that the money, payment for a beef import quota, was prepared by Maria Elizabeth Liman, president director of agricultural products company Indoguna Utama.
Under questioning by Chief Justice Nawawi Pomolango, Ridwan said the Engkong referred to was his father, Hilmi Aminuddin, chief advisor for the PKS.
The judge then asked about the man who was said to have delivered the bribe money, Sengman. "There's a name, Sengman. Who is that?," Justice Nawawi asked.
Ridwan replied: "As I have explained to the KPK [the Corruption Eradication Commission], as far as I know Bapak Sengman is the president's courier when dealing with the PKS."
"Whose president?" the judge asked. "Our president, Pak SBY. In the record of my interview with the KPK it is noted that he is someone close to the president," Ridwan said.
Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha denied that Sengman was the president's envoy, adding that the president may have known the figure, but denied that he was the president's representative.
"The president never gave Sengman a mandate as a special envoy. As we all know, a president's envoy has special duties and they are given in a written statement, for instance a special envoy for the Middle East or Millennium Development Goals," Julian said.
Sengman was an influential businessman in South Sumatra and it is possible the president may have known him when he was commander of the Sriwijaya Military Area Command from 1996-97, Julian said.
The president also reportedly attended the wedding of one of Sengman's children, but Julian said there was nothing unusual about the president receiving such invitations from high-profile individuals.
While presidential staff and members of Yudhoyono's Democratic Party have rushed to refute any allegation linking the president to the corruption scandal or to the mystery figure Sengman, critics say the protestations are disingenuous.