T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) maintained on Tuesday that it had strong evidence of former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng’s alleged involvement in graft related to the Hambalang sports complex project.

The KPK said it had found strong indications that Andi, along with the ministry’s financial and internal affairs bureau chief, Dedy Kusdinar, another suspect in the case, had abused their authority to enrich themselves and others.

“The way we see it, it’s about the responsibility of people who used the budget at the ministry, whom we have named suspects for abusing their powers,” KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said on Tuesday.

Johan was responding to a statement from Andi’s younger brother, Rizal Mallarangeng, who said during a press conference late last week that Andi had no responsibility over the project’s budget.

In the press conference, Rizal slammed the KPK for naming Andi a suspect because as the youth and sports minister, he did not sign the Hambalang project’s budget proposal that was sent to the Finance Ministry.

The budget proposal for the project was signed by former ministry secretary Wafid Muharram, who has been convicted on separate graft charges.

Johan said that the KPK could name Andi a suspect in the case not only because he did not sign the document. The spokesman maintained Andi was charged with Article 2 and 3 of the Anticorruption Law for abusing his authority.

Rizal, who is also the executive director of the Freedom Institute, claimed the KPK was being unfair for not naming Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo and his deputy Anny Ratnawati as suspects.

“The KPK should eradicate corruption from its source, and it should follow the money. It is impossible for the [Youth and Sport] ministry to run the project if the Finance Ministry did not approve it,” he said.

The Hambalang project took off in early 2010 when Andi took over the ministry from outgoing minister Adhyaksa Dault.

During Adhyaksa’s tenure, the project was a modest single-year project worth Rp 125 billion (US$13 million), but Andi transformed it into a multi-year project worth Rp 1.17 trillion.

Former Democratic Party’s treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, who at that time was a fugitive graft suspect, blew the whistle by saying Andi, a fellow party member, and party chairman Anas Urbaningrum swindled money from the project.

Separately on Tuesday, KPK chairman Abraham Samad denied speculation that the antigraft body would stop its investigation into Anas.

Anas has been summoned by the KPK as witness in the Hambalang case.

“The KPK never hesitates to summon persons from whom we will collect information,” he said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.