T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned on Thursday former energy and mineral resources minister Jero Wacik for his alleged role in a bribery scheme involving fellow Democratic Party politician Sutan Bhatoegana.

Speaking after the questioning, Jero defended Sutan, saying he was a man of good moral standing.

'€œI told them that as far as I know, Sutan had never asked for illegal money from the ministry in exchange for revising the state budget or any other thing. He is a good man and has never mixed state affairs with his personal affairs,'€ Jero told reporters.

Sutan, a former head of House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy and mineral resources, was accused of accepting bribes in return for expediting the deliberation of the ministry'€™s budget for the 2012-2013 period.

Sutan made headlines in January, when his name was mentioned at the graft trial of former Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) head Rudi Rubiandini. Rudi told the court that Sutan repeatedly asked him for money in exchange for approving the budget for the ministry, which oversees SKKMigas.

Rudi also said that Sutan had asked him to pay US$200,000 in bonuses for Commission VII lawmakers in 2013. Sutan denied the claims, stating that nobody from within Commission VII had instructed his staff to demand money from Rudi.

Jero was named a suspect on Sept. 3 this year by the KPK for alleged extortion. He is thought to have collected illegal payments from agencies under the supervision of the ministry.

The extortion allegedly took place between 2011 and 2012, to increase his ministerial operational funds. The scheme reportedly raised nearly Rp 10 billion ($850,000).

The extortion is alleged to have been conducted in three ways: collecting kickbacks from procurements; requesting funds from the ministry'€™s business partners; and allocating funds for fictitious meetings.

Former president director of state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, Karen Agustiawan, was said to be one of victims of the extortion scheme.

In a KPK document, Karen told KPK investigators that Rudi once called her to say that Jero and he had agreed that SKKMigas would provide $150,000 to help ease the ministry'€™s budget deliberations in the House, while another $150,000 was to be provided by Pertamina.

Jero has denied all allegations.

On Thursday, the KPK also summoned two other Democratic Party politicians, Natasya Tarra and Siti Romlah, both lawmakers in House Commission VII for the 2009-2014 term.