JAKARTA: The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is resuming a probe into the alleged bribery implicating Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni after suspecting the minister for not fully returning kickbacks allegedly given by a graft suspect.
KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said on Thursday (Aug 6) graft busters were still investigating reports of the difference in amount of illicit money Raja Juli previously reported and the total amount he received from Suhardiman Amby, the regent of Kuantan Singingi in Riau. The minister allegedly met with Suhardiman on June 2 in a meeting between the ministry and the Kuantan Singingi administration.
After the meeting, the regent allegedly gave the minister an envelope containing banknotes of Singaporean dollars. According to the KPK, the envelope given to Raja Juli initially contained S$14,000 (US$10,919).
Meanwhile, some other ministry officials also allegedly received kickbacks amounting to S$12,500 from various Kuantan Singingi officials. “Investigators are still checking allegations of gaps between the money given and returned by [the minister],” Budi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Raja Juli previously reported on July 3 to the antigraft body Suhardiman’s attempt to give the kickback, which he claimed he turned down. He also claimed to have returned the envelope on June 12, 10 days after the meeting, at the Kuantan Singingi Police headquarters, saying that he had no right to accept it.
The antigraft body is still looking at whether these kickbacks were related to proposals requested by the regency administration to the ministry to reclassify more than 1,800 hectares of limited production forest (HPT) in Kuantan Singingi. Under prevailing laws, improper gifts received in relation to a position in public office must be reported to the KPK, not the police, within 30 days after acceptance to avoid criminal charges.
The maximum punishment for state officials found guilty of accepting illicit gifts are 20-year imprisonment and a Rp 1 billion (US$55,867) fine. Budi also said that prior to having a meeting with Suhardiman in early June, Raja Juli had also allegedly met with the regent at least three times in total.
“There were at least three separate meetings in April, May and June,” Budi said, stopping short of revealing whether these meetings were related to each other or not.
Suhardiman, who is also a politician from President Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party, was arrested and named a suspect by the KPK in late June on allegations of receiving kickbacks from the regency’s secretary Zulkarnain in exchange for the latter’s appointment as the regional administration’s secretary.
KPK investigators later expanded the case into alleged kickbacks from the regent to the Forestry Ministry pertaining to the forest conversion permit. The case put Raja Juli, who is also the secretary-general of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), under renewed scrutiny from the public and lawmakers, with members of the House of Representatives Commission IV overseeing forestry planning to summon the minister for clarification.
But Raja Juli skipped a meeting between the Forestry Ministry and House Commission IV on July 14, with Commission IV deputy chair Alex Indra Lukman from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) claiming the minister was on an umrah (minor haj) trip at the time.
In a statement for the Post on Thursday, the Forestry Ministry reasserted its commitment to respect and support the KPK’s ongoing investigation, ensuring that the ministry would cooperate if there is any data or information requested by the antigraft body.
The ministry maintained it had not granted any status changes in the regency to date, with the latest three proposals from Kuantan Singingi administration being either rejected or pending verification. Under the prevailing law, the Forestry Ministry has the authority to reclassify state forests for different land-use tiers, including changing HPT, which is strictly limited to low-quantity production for settlement or industrial purposes. – The Jakarta Post/ANN
