Nurhayati indicted, suspect to follow
Ina Parlina and Margareth S. Aritonang, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Thu, June 14 2012, 7:33 AM
Former House of Representatives budget committee member Wa Ode Nurhayati stood trial on Wednesday at the Jakarta Corruption Court, where prosecutors indicted her with bribery and money laundering in a case surrounding the deliberations of the 2011 Regional Infrastructure Adjustment Fund (DPID).
The DPID is suspected to have been abused by politicians to coax businessmen into paying bribes in return for project contracts.
Meanwhile, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Abraham Samad said his office would soon name a new suspect, but refused to reveal the name. He said the new suspect would “likely be a politician”.
At the trial, prosecutors indicted that Nurhayati had accepted a total of Rp 6.25 billion (US$662,500) from three businessmen, namely Fahd El Fouz (previously identified as Fahd A. Rafiq), Saul Paulus David Nelwan and Abram Noach Mambu, to secure the DPID disbursement in three regencies in Aceh: Pidie, Benar Meriah and Aceh Besar as well as Minahasa in North Sulawesi.
Nurhayati, prosecutors said, had accepted Rp 5.5 billion from Fahd, Rp 350 million from Saul and Rp 400 million from Abram.
“[The money] was paid because the defendant, as a member of the House’s budget committee, had the authority to facilitate the success of the four regencies in the 2011 DPID fund,” prosecutor I Kadek Wiradana said before the court.
The money from Fahd was allegedly distributed by Haris Surahman through Nurhayati’s personal assistant, Sefa Yulanda.
The KPK has also declared Fahd a suspect in the case and imposed travel bans on Sefa and Haris.
The prosecutors also charged the 30-year-old National Mandate Party (PAN) politician with committing three money laundering acts as they found hundreds of millions of rupiah had been transferred on several occasions to her Bank Mandiri account, reaching a total of Rp 50.59 billion.
“The defendant must have known the money had come from corrupt practices,” prosecutor Malino Pranduk said when he read out the indictment.
Malino added that Nurhayati’s wealth could not be much because as a lawmaker, she only earned Rp 1.69 billion between October 2009 – when she was inaugurated – and September 2011, and added that she had no other income.
He also said Nurhayati concealed the origin of the money by wiring some of it to several third parties, mostly her relatives.
