Hans Nicholas Jong and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The ruling Democratic Party (PD) was quick to deny on Wednesday allegations it was linked to the recent bribery scandal that hit the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry after the nation's antigraft agency arrested the top official at the upstream oil and gas regulatory special task force (SKKMigas) for allegedly accepting US$700,000 in bribes from a foreign company.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has charged the SKKMigas head with graft, along with two other men, one of whom is an official from the Singapore-based oil trading company Kernel Oil Pte Ltd. Rudi is the highest official to have been caught accepting bribes by the KPK, which has claimed his arrest to be its biggest sting operation.
The scandal has put the PD, which has long controlled the ministry, in the spotlight. "His arrest has nothing to do with the Democratic Party. I don't know Rudi. The bribe money has no relation to the party," the party's deputy chairperson, Nurhayati Ali Assegaf, told reporters.
Bambang said the KPK had yet to see an indication that Rudi's role in the case had any direct relationship with any political party, but added it was possible the party would question Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik, a senior PD politician and a close confidant of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the party's chairman. "We will summon him if his statement is needed," he said.
Jero, known for his close relation with Rudi, told reporters at the State Palace on Wednesday night that he was ready to face questioning and would let the KPK do its job as it investigated the case.
Rudi was twice selected by Yudhoyono for strategic positions in the oil and gas sector. He was appointed in 2012 as Jero's deputy after the previous official, Widjajono Partowidagdo, died after suffering a heart attack while climbing Mount Tambora in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara. In January this year, Rudi was selected by Yudhoyono as the head of SKKMigas, a temporary replacement for BPMigas, which was dissolved by the Constitutional Court on Nov. 13 last year.
This is the second graft scandal to hit a ministry led by a PD politician. The KPK previously named former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng, who was a PD executive, as a corruption suspect in the Hambalang scandal.
Rudi's arrest has shocked many of his colleagues at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) at which he is a lecturer. He was known to be a "clean" official and was once dubbed the best lecturer and a role model by his alma mater.
The KPK, however, announced on Wednesday that it had officially named Rudi a suspect in the bribery case. "We have decided to name three suspects, S as the briber and A and R as the recipients of the bribes," Bambang told a press conference at the KPK's headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta, referring to the suspects with their initials.
It is believed that S is Simon G. Tanjaya, one of the owners of Kernel Oil, while A is Deviardi, who goes by his nickname of Ardi, and R is Rudi.
Both Ardi, who works as a golf trainer, and Rudi are suspected of accepting bribes totaling $690,000 and S$127,000. "This is the largest amount of money we have ever confiscated in a sting operation," Bambang said, adding that Ardi had a close relationship with Rudi.
The KPK charged Rudi and Ardi with Article 12 of Law No. 31/1999 on corruption, while Simon was charged with Article 5 of the same law. The antigraft body conducted the operation following information from the public.
The operation started at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, when KPK investigators followed Simon as he gave $400,000 in bribe money to Ardi at the City Plaza Building in South Jakarta. Ardi then gave the money to Rudi at the official's house on Jl. Brawijaya in South Jakarta at 9:30 p.m.
Ardi went to Rudi's house using a luxury motorcycle complete with a vehicle ownership document (BPKB), prompting speculation that the motorcycle was a part of the bribe.
Ardi spent 30 minutes there, after which he went home using Rudi's car and Rudi's personal driver. As he exited the house, the KPK investigators arrested him and brought him back to Rudi's house.
KPK investigators then found the $400,000 as well as $90,000 and S$127,000 in Rudi's house, while they found $200,000 in Ardi's house on Jl. Hortikultura in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.
The KPK investigators also brought in Rudi's driver for questioning and confiscated the luxury motorcycle, a black bag and a stack of documents.
[Amahl S. Azwar contributed to this story.]