The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) says it will step up its probe into the alleged role of Democratic Party lawmaker Sutan Bhatoegana in the bribery case plaguing the oil and gas sector after the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced former Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) head Rudi Rubiandini to seven years in prison.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that KPK investigators had collected more than enough evidence in the course of Rudi'€™s four-month trial that it could use to prosecute more individuals.

'€œWe are still looking into details from the trial to find more about his [Sutan] role,'€ Johan said when asked if the KPK would soon name Sutan a suspect in the case.

Meanwhile, KPK deputy chairman Busyro Muqoddas said '€œthe KPK would work to reveal the mastermind behind the SKKMigas graft scheme'€.

Busyro declined to give more details.

The antigraft court sentenced Rudi to seven years in prison for accepting US$2.6 million in bribes through his golf trainer Deviardi, who also served as a middleman in the case.

The court sentenced Deviardi to four and a half years in prison for his role as a go-between in accepting the cash from a number of oil and gas companies in exchange for oil contracts and from colleagues at the agency.

KPK prosecutors sought 10 years for Rudi and five years for Deviardi.

In the trial, prosecutors proved that Rudi accepted S$200,000 and $900,000 from Singapore-based oil trading firm Kernel Oil in return for a guarantee to allocate various oil blocks, as well as $522,500 from PT Kaltim Parna Industri for his services in lowering the price of gas sold to the firm.

Former SKKMigas deputy chief Yohanes Widjanarko, now the agency'€™s chief, reportedly gave Rudi S$600,000 while top officials Gerhard Rumeser and Iwan Rahman allegedly handed over $350,000 and $50,000, respectively.

The court also found Rudi guilty of laundering the money for personal gain despite the fact that a large sum of the cash reportedly went to a number of lawmakers on House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy and natural mineral resources.

With Rudi'€™s conviction, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry secretary-general Waryono Karno remains the only suspect to await trail in the case.

Meanwhile, the statuses of Sutan, Commission VII'€™s chairman, commission member Tri Yulianto and PT Kaltim Parna Industri president director Artha Meris Simbolon remain as witnesses in the graft case although they have been slapped with travel bans by the KPK.

The panel of judges at the court said that Rudi had given $200,000, which was taken from the money he received from Kernel Oil, to Sutan through Deviardi.

According to KPK prosecutors, the money was for '€œholiday bonuses'€ for Commission VII members as demanded by Sutan. Sutan has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Sutan was dragged further into the fray when the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry'€™s former financial division head, Didi Dwi Sutrisno, revealed that he had delivered $140,000 to Sutan'€™s personal assistant Irianto Muchyi.

Didi said that the money, which was meant to be given to the chairman, his deputies, administrative staff and members of Commission VII, was related to the deliberation of the ministry'€™s budget at the House.

He further said that the money was collected from SKKMigas by Waryono, who, according to a KPK investigation document obtained by The Jakarta Post, received the instruction from Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik.

Both Jero, who is also a senior Democratic Party politician, and Waryono have denied the allegations. Jero has been questioned as a witness in the case.

Contacted by the Post on Tuesday evening, Sutan said that he had nothing more to say. '€œI explained everything in my testimony during a hearing at the antigraft court in February,'€ he said.

Popular

To my horror, it’s just a movie!

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Pentagon chief congratulates Prabowo on being elected President