T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has confirmed that the questioning of Indo Pos chief editor Don Kardono was carried out in connection to an allegation that graft suspect and former energy and mineral resources minister Jero Wacik paid the daily Rp 2 billion to print stories that could be regarded as '€œpersonal branding.'€

The KPK alleged that the Rp 2 billion cash was taken from the Rp 9.9 billion Jero allegedly embezzled from his office.

Jero has been charged with extortion for allegedly forcing his subordinates to collect around Rp 9.9 billion (US$834,809) in funds from '€œillegal sources'€ within the ministry between 2011 and 2013.

According to the antigraft body, Jero collected the money through procurement-project kickbacks, mark-ups in the ministry'€™s budget and creating bogus programs handled by a number of divisions within the ministry.

'€œWe summoned him [Kardono] because we received information that Rp 2 billion was wired to Indo Pos in connection to JW'€™s personal branding activities,'€ KPK chairman Abraham Samad said on the weekend, referring to Jero by his initials.

Abraham further said that Jero opted to work with Indo Pos in his public relations campaign because his boss, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, read the daily regularly.

Jero was convinced that with good stories about him, the President would consider him a successful leader at the ministry, which he had led since 2011.

Abraham said that the antigraft body was also looking into whether the Rp 2 billion money was wired to Kardono'€™s personal bank account or to Indo Pos'€™ official bank account.

'€œI can'€™t confirm right now as KPK investigators are still collecting more information from witnesses [including Kardono],'€ Abraham said.

Jero is a senior politician with Yudhoyono'€™s ruling Democratic Party. Jero is a member of the party'€™s assembly board, while Yudhoyono currently serves as party chairman.

Last week, the antigraft body questioned Kardono twice in its probe into the extortion case.

After a second round of questioning on Thursday, Kardono said that the contract Jero and his daily signed was related to advertisements paid for by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

'€œThe advertising [agreement] started in 2012,'€ Kardono said at KPK headquarters on Thursday. He declined to state the value of the contract.

He also refused to respond when asked whether the advertisements were for the ministry or Jero as an individual.

The KPK has also accused Jero of instructing his subordinates to plan fictitious meetings so that their budget could be channeled to his personal account.

After being questioned on Friday, the ministry'€™s directorate general for renewed and conservation energy, Rida Mulyana, defended his boss by saying,

'€œI am not defending Pak Jero, but Pak Jero never instructed me to collect anything,'€ he said.

Earlier on Thursday, the KPK also grilled a number of division heads at the ministry, namely legal affairs division head Susyanto; planning and cooperation division head Agus Sugiharto Haryono; former home affairs division head Arif Indarto; and public communications division head Dwi Purwanto.