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Minister's pilgrimage paid with dirty money
A businessman claimed in a court hearing on Monday that he had been a victim of an extortion scheme in which he had had to pay Rp 15 billion (US$1
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businessman claimed in a court hearing on Monday that he had been a victim of an extortion scheme in which he had had to pay Rp 15 billion (US$1.25 million), part of which was used to pay for a holy trip to Medina for Disadvantaged Regions Minister Ahmad Helmy Faisal Zaini.
The Papuan businessman, Teddy Renyut, claimed that the sum was paid as a bribe in exchange for development projects from the ministry.
Teddy, the president director of Papua-based company PT Papua Indah Perkasa, handles a number of construction projects commissioned by the ministry. He was arrested for paying a bribe to Biak Numfor Regent Yesaya Sombuk in order to secure an embankment project in the regency.
Teddy said that Helmy's advisor Sabililah Ardi made the request for the money, 290 million of which went on the minister's trip to Medina in Saudi Arabia.
'Ardi made a verbal request. He then threatened to stop helping me to get projects from the ministry, including the sea embankment project, if I did not comply. I subsequently found out that [two of the four tickets I paid for] were for the minister and his wife,' Teddy said at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday while testifying as a witness at Yesaya's trial.
The other two tickets were registered under the names of Nuzulia Hamzah Nasution and Monicatriastuti Wasidi. It is still unclear whether the two are Helmy's relatives or officials at the ministry.
Teddy also revealed that in 2013 he paid Rp 3.2 billion to Budiyo, a confidant of Ardi, in order to be assigned the Rp 20 billion sea embankment project. Budiyo was a middleman who served as an intermediary between the ministry and the House of Representatives.
Teddy further said that he had paid a total of Rp 6 billion to an individual named Adit in order to get state projects for the 2014 period from Helmy's office.
'I trust Adit because he is a confidant of Pak Muamir. Pak Muamir is one of the minister's relatives. I met with Pak Muamir and he said that the money should be transferred through Adit,' Teddy said, referring to National Awakening Party (PKB) central executive board head Muamir Muin Syam, who received Rp 250 million from Teddy.
In connection with the sea embankment project, Teddy also paid Rp 65 million in bribes to the head of Biak Numfor Disaster Prevention Agency, Yunus Saflembo, and Rp 950 million to Yesaya.
A further Rp 3.2 billion was given to another of Ardi's confidants, identified by Teddy as 'Har', who is not an official at the ministry.
'I know that giving money to state officials is prohibited. But, from my experience, our applications for ministry projects would be rejected if we didn't pay bribes. Infrastructure in Papua is in a sorry state becuase of this system. I just followed the system at the ministry,' Teddy added.
Helmy denied all of Teddy's allegations.
Asked if his trip to the holy land was paid by Teddy, Helmy said that 'it was an official trip funded by the state.' He also denied that his family members joined his entourage.
However, when testifying at Monday's trial, the ministry's deputy for Regional Development, Lili Romli, confirmed that Helmy's wife Santi Nisa Ikhsan had accompanied the minister.
