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Nazaruddin divulges Ibas'€™ secrets to KPK

Graft convict and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, known for his role as a whistle-blower in several high-profile graft cases, has accused the son of President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono, Edhie “Ibas” Baskoro, of abusing his father’s name to rig government projects worth hundreds of billions of rupiah

Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, October 10, 2014

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Nazaruddin divulges Ibas'€™ secrets to KPK

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raft convict and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, known for his role as a whistle-blower in several high-profile graft cases, has accused the son of President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono, Edhie '€œIbas'€ Baskoro, of abusing his father'€™s name to rig government projects worth hundreds of billions of rupiah.

Nazaruddin, who was questioned as a witness on Thursday in a Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games) construction project graft case involving some Rp 191 billion in funds, claimed he had strong evidence to back up the claim that Ibas had played a role in rigging the SEA Games project and other projects in the oil and gas sectors.

'€œToday I will be questioned about the beneficiaries of money from the SEA Games project including Ibas, who received US$450,000. The money was handed over at the Kempinski Hotel in Jakarta,'€ Nazaruddin told reporters at KPK headquarters on Thursday.

Regarding the rigging of the construction project for the graft-ridden Hambalang sports complex project in West Java, Ibas received around $200,000, Nazaruddin said.

'€œThe money was given to Ibas in his office at the House of Representatives. Ibas controlled many state projects. I will explain all of them to KPK investigators [during my questioning],'€ Nazar said, adding that he hoped the KPK would follow up on his testimony.

Nazaruddin further said that in the lucrative oil and gas sectors, Ibas used his company, PT Saipem, to acquire tenders for many state projects from the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas), which is supervised by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

'€œSaipem got many projects from the SKKMigas. I will elaborate about one of the projects after my questioning. One of the projects was worth $150 million and was initiated during the tenure of former SKKMigas chief [graft convict Rudi Rubiandini],'€ Nazaruddin said.

Rudi served as head of SKKMigas when the ministry was led by Democratic Party politician Jero Wacik, who has been named a graft suspect by the KPK in a separate case.

'€œIbas'€™ hands are dirty from rigging state projects. He received fees from everywhere. Ibas once scolded [lawmaker] Sutan Bhatoegana regarding a project [at SKKMigas] that was targeted by Saipem,'€ Nazaruddin said, referring to the Democratic Party politician and former member of House Commission VII overseeing energy, natural mineral resources, research and technology and the environment. Sutan is a suspect in another graft case.

Nazaruddin'€™s claims regarding the SKKMigas project were consistent with testimony delivered earlier by Sutan when he was questioned by KPK investigators on Nov. 27, 2013.

In his testimony, Sutan '€” who allegedly conspired with Rudi to secure PT Timas Suplindo'€™s bid for a $600 million offshore construction project held by a local arm of US energy giant Chevron '€” said he had clashed with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s cousin, Sartono Hutomo and a '€œfriend'€ of Ibas'€™ who backed a rival firm, PT Rekayasa Industri (Rekind), over rights to the project.

In a meeting attended by Sutan, Sartono, Rudi and a man named Deni Karmaina introduced as Ibas'€™ '€œfriend'€, Sutan said he was forced to back down from supporting Timas.

'€œSartono told me that this was in the [interest of the] party. I replied, '€˜Pak Sartono, Pak SBY never taught us to do this [rigging]. You are all greedy'€™,'€ referring to Yudhoyono by his initials.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that if Nazaruddin could provide strong evidence to support his allegations against Ibas then the antigraft body would bring the President'€™s son in for questioning.

Testimony delivered by Nazaruddin in other high profile-graft cases have resulted in convictions of several Democratic Party politicians, including former chairman Anas Urbaningrum, Angelina Sondakh and Andi Mallarangeng.

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