R

evelations that graft suspect Tubagus Chaeri Wardana has showered famous women with expensive gifts raise the question of whether they should be charged with money laundering.

Tubagus, better known as Wawan, who has been charged with corruption and money laundering, is the latest graft suspect accused of living a lavish lifestyle and channeling huge amounts of money in the form of luxury gifts '€” in his case, cars '€” to women celebrities.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) recently confiscated a Toyota Vellfire worth Rp 888 million (US$75,480) from actress Jennifer Dunn.

Jennifer, who was questioned by the KPK on Friday, confirmed that the car was a gift from Wawan.

She claimed that Wawan gave her the car when she joined his production house, which manages models and soap-opera actresses.

Wawan also allegedly gave gifts to other actresses, including Catherine Wilson, also was summoned by the KPK on Friday.

Yenti Garnasih, a money-laundering expert at Trisakti University, said on Saturday that the KPK should be able to charge them under the Money Laundering Law.

'€œThe charge applies to whoever receives an item deemed to be linked to criminal activity. So, it applies to everyone '€” actresses included,'€ Yenti said as quoted by kompas.com.

Yenti added that whoever received expensive gifts should question the giver'€™s motivation and the legality of the gifts. '€œJust as when we receive gifts on our birthday: If the gifts are ordinary, then there is no need to be suspicious. But if the gift is a car or money in the region of billions of rupiah, of course that is suspicious and should be reported.'€

Jennifer'€™s lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, said Jennifer was introduced to Wawan in June last year and that she was given the car in September. The actress has denied having an affair with Wawan, saying they were good friends. Wawan is married to South Tangerang Mayor Airin Rachmi Diany.

Wawan is also the brother of Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, who was arrested in October for allegedly bribing then-Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar.

KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that it was currently focusing on Wawan and on retrieving the state assets he had allegedly swindled.

It was unlikely, however, that the actresses linked to his case would be charged anytime soon, he added.

In previous cases, the KPK has let the recipients of assets bought with graft money off the hook.

Graft convict Ahmad Fathanah, who was sentenced to 14 years'€™ imprisonment, for instance, was found to have channeled money, in amounts ranging from Rp 40 million to Rp 1 billion, to around 20 women, some of whom were models, actresses or singers.

They included 43-year-old swimsuit model Khadijah '€œAyu'€ Azhari; lingerie model Vitalia Sesha and dangdut singer Tri Kurnia Puspita, all of whom were questioned by the KPK.

Other celebrities were more likely to be charged with money laundering as they likely knew the origin of the funds, Ade Irawan from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said.

'€˜They should be charged. If they know the money has come from corrupt practices, or even if they merely suspect it, they should be charged as passive accomplices,'€ he said.