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former official at the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday that Minister Suswono refused to blacklist PT Indoguna Utama, the company at the center of a major bribery scandal involving the importation of beef.

Prabowo Respatiyo Caturroso, the former Agriculture Ministry’s director general for animal husbandry, told reporters following his questioning by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that the ministry’s inspector general had found irregularities regarding PT Indoguna’s import license.

“The minister’s policy at the time was that it should not be blacklisted,” he said.

According to Prabowo, the inspector general had found 51 containers of imported beef that were not equipped with an entry license. The minister, Prabowo said, ordered his subordinates to reexport the beef as a penalty for
Indoguna.

It was unclear if the minister knew Indoguna officials personally, Prabowo said, adding that the firm’s representatives used to come to the ministry.

Suswono has repeatedly denied having any role in the scandal, which has implicated Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, the former chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) of which Suswono is also a member.

Luthfi was accused of receiving Rp 1 billion (US$103,000) from two Indoguna officials through his aide, Ahmad Fathanah, to persuade Suswono to award an import quota to the firm. Luthfi, Ahmad and Indoguna president director Maria Elizabeth Liman reportedly met with Suswono to discuss the beef import quota scheme in Medan.

Prabowo said he knew nothing of the bribery. “I don’t know anything about Ahmad. I don’t know him. I’ve never seen him with Agriculture Minister Suswono. I also don’t know Luthfi,” he said.

 He only confirmed that the beef import management at the ministry was rife with irregularities.

“I received a lot of reports about counterfeit meat import licenses [during my tenure],” Prabowo said, adding that he had tried to curb the practice by changing the type of paper used for the licenses from regular HVS paper to one with
holograms.