T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has charged businessman Muhtar Efendi, a confidant of graft convict and former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar, with perjury in its investigation into alleged bribery plaguing the court.

'€œOur investigation has found two pieces of strong evidence to name ME [Muhtar Efendi] a suspect in the case,'€ KPK spokesman Johan Budi said over the weekend.

Johan said that Muhtar was being accused of violating Articles 21 and 22 of the 2001 Corruption Law on obstruction of investigation and on perjury, respectively, after the antigraft body found that the businessman had given false testimony during the trial of Akil, who has been sentenced to life in prison for accepting Rp 57 billion (US$4.8 million) in bribes from 10 regional heads.

'€œAll people testifying at graft trials have to be aware that false testimony could bring serious legal consequences. The verdict is a strong warning for everyone testifying under oath at graft trials,'€ Johan added.

Muhtar is the fourth suspect to be charged with perjury after the KPK previously pressed the same charges on Palembang Mayor Romi Herton and his wife Masyitoh, both of whom had been accused of bribing Akil through Muhtar.

Earlier, the antigraft body had also named an adjutant to graft convict and former Riau governor Rusli Zainal, Said Faisal, a perjury suspect. Faisal was named a suspect in February after he was found to have given false testimony during the trial of Rusli, who in March was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in the Pelalawan forestry permit and Riau National Games (PON) graft cases.

Later, Faisal was sentenced to seven years in prison for perjury and corruption.

Muhtar is likely to face corruption charges in addition to the perjury charges after Akil'€™s indictment exposes his blatant roles in acting as a middleman delivering bribes to Akil, who was also found guilty of laundering the bribe money he received from the regional heads.

According to Akil'€™s indictment, Romi went through Muhtar to transfer Rp 20 billion to Akil in exchange for annulling the victory of Romi'€™s rival, Samudra, in the Palembang mayoral election in 2013.

Later, on May 16, 2013, Romi, through his wife Masyitoh, gave another Rp 12 billion and Rp 3 billion in US dollar-denominated cash to Akil, again through Muhtar.

Another Rp 5 billion was given to Akil after the court ruled to annul the victory of the winning candidate in the Palembang mayoral election.

In the ruling, Akil, who headed the panel of judges at the court, ordered a revote.

KPK had questioned Muhtar eight times in its investigation into Akil'€™s case and successfully collected strong evidence confirming his roles as a middleman, delivering bribes from a number of regional heads, including Romi.

However, Muhtar had retracted his testimonies in KPK investigation documents, saying '€œeverything I said in the document was false.'€

'€œYes, I retracted all of my statements. Especially the ones with regard to the money from Romi Herton and Budi Antoni Aljufri. I was under pressure at that time,'€ Muhtar said during Akil'€™s trial on March 24 at the Jakarta Corruption Court, referring to Empat Lawang regent candidate Budi.

According to Akil'€™s indictment, incumbent regent candidate Budi and running mate Syahril Hanafiah of Empat Lawang regency in South Sumatra made cash payments amounting to Rp 10 billion and $500,000 to Akil through Muhtar to overturn an Empat Lawang Regional General Elections Commission (KPUD) decision naming Joncik Muhammad and his running mate Ali Halimi the victors in the election.

Akil'€™s indictment also revealed that he had financed a number of car showrooms belonging to Muhtar to conceal the sources of his ill-gotten gains.

The KPK confiscated 25 cars and 31 motorbikes from a number of car showrooms run by Muhtar in November 2013, as they were allegedly linked to money laundering activities.