Dharnawati intended to bribe Muhaimin

Dharnawati, a businesswoman currently serving a two-and-half year prison sentence for bribing two officials at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, admitted that she had intended to give money to Minister Muhaimin Iskandar when grilled by the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday.

Prosecutors for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) presented her as a witness against defendant Dadong Irbarelawan, a ministry official, in a bribery case centering on a project for infrastructure acceleration in four settlement areas in Papua.

The case implicates Muhaimin, who is believed to have played a role in the case involving several of his “personal aides”.

“I had intended to give money to the minister soon after it was over [the tender appointing her company] to show my gratitude,” she told the court.

During questioning, both KPK prosecutors and the panel of judges instructed her to confirm whether or not any of the Rp 1.5 billion (US$166,875) in bribes went to Muhaimin.

They also asked Dharnawati to explain about “Muhaimin’s Lebaran bonuses” that were believed to be paid using the bribes.

She testified that she had heard from Dadong during a visit to his office a day before the KPK arrested them, as well as Dadong’s colleague I Nyoman Suisnaya, that there were “minister’s needs to be met”.

“I heard about the [minister’s] need for money for Lebaran bonuses,” she said.

The KPK investigators arrested the three on Aug. 25 last year, prior to the delivery of the Rp 1.5 billion in bribes paid to secure the project for Dharnawati’s company, PT Alam Jaya Papua. The bribes, in the form of Rp 100,000 and Rp 50,000 banknotes, were stashed in a cardboard box normally used to sell durian. (nvn)