Anti-graft body summons MP in Transport Ministry graft case

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 03/27/2009 11:43 AM  |  National

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) says it is summoning legislator Jhonny Allen for questioning in an alleged bribery case in which another lawmaker, Abdul Hadi Djamal, had been named a suspect.

"We sent the summons letter this week," KPK spokesman Johan Budi said on Friday.

Jhonny, a lawmaker of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, would be questioned as a witness in the case, Johan said.

Abdul had apparently been caught red-handed by the KPK earlier this month after receiving US$90,000 and Rp 54 million ($4,526) in alleged bribes from Darmawati, a Transportation Ministry official.

The money had allegedly been provided by businessman Hontjo Kurniawan, who previously had given Rp 3 billion to Abdul to guarantee that his company, PT Kurnia Jaya Wirabhakti, would win a contract to manage a pier and airport development project in eastern Indonesia.

Abdul, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), was a member of House Commission V for transportation and housing, which was deliberating a Rp 100 billion budget to be allocated for the project.

During questioning by the KPK, Abdul said the budget had been part of the Rp 10.2 trillion stimulus fund for the Transportation Ministry, which had subsequently been increased by the House budgeting committee to Rp 12.2 trillion.

The discussion to increase the funding, he went on, took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Jakarta, not long after the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton's visit to Jakarta.

Among legislators named by Abdul as having attended the discussion were Rama Pratama of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Jhonny Allen.

Rama is a member of the House budgeting committee, while Jhonny is committee deputy chairman. Abdul also said that government representative Anggito Abimanyu, the Finance Ministry's head of fiscal policy, was also at the meeting.

The initiative to raise the stimulus fund to Rp 12.2 trillion came from Rama and the committee head, Abdul said.

That was when the case sprang into life, aided by Hontjo's approach of him and Jhonny Allen based on a recommendation from Transportation Ministry officials, Abdul said. (dre)

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