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n anti-money laundering watchdog on Monday revealed that former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar, a graft suspect, had allegedly laundered a whopping Rp 100 billion (US$9.1 million) during his time in office.

The Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) discovered wire transfers, allegedly sent by a number of regional heads as kickbacks, to several companies linked to the former Golkar politician.

'€œWe suspect Akil accepted transactions from a number of prospective regional heads, but I don'€™t know the details of the transactions,'€ PPATK deputy chairman Agus Santoso said on Monday.

While Agus refused to name the regional heads, he confirmed they were from areas outside of Java.

'€œWe found suspicious transactions totaling Rp 100 billion,'€ Agus confirmed.

The PPATK followed the move by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to officially charge Akil with money laundering.

Akil, along with Golkar Party lawmaker and Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) treasurer Chairun Nisa and businessman Cornelis Lanau, was arrested on Oct. 2 by the KPK at his residence in South Jakarta for allegedly accepting bribes from several regional leaders.

According to the PPTAK, it first found suspicious transactions in Akil'€™s personal and company accounts in 2010, and had reported it to the KPK in 2012.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the agency had found two strong pieces of evidence to support the money-laundering charges, which could carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The KPK accused Akil of laundering the dirty money by sending it to a company he ran in his hometown in West Kalimantan.

Akil'€™s lawyer insisted that Akil had earned his wealth through legitimate means.

'€œHe [Akil] had amassed assets long before he became Constitutional Court chief justice. While he was in public office, including when he was a lawmaker, he always submitted his financial reports. The last one was in January this year,'€ Akil'€™s lawyer, Adardam Achyar, said.

Adardam said Akil had also acquired his wealth through legitimate businesses '€” breeding exotic Arwana fish and CV Ratu Samagat, which controls oil palm plantations in Kalimantan '€” over the past three years.

After a vote at the House of Representatives, Akil secured a seat as a judge for the Constitution Court in April 2008, before being elected chief justice in April 2003.

Between 1999 and 2006, he was a legislator with the Golkar Party. (hrl)