T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has denied reports that it named former vice president Boediono a suspect in a graft case centering on the controversial Bank Century bailout.

On Thursday, KPK deputy chairman Adnan Pandu Praja was quoted by Antara news agency as saying that the antigraft body had implicated a number of senior government officials, including Boediono, in the Bank Century graft investigation.

'€œIn the KPK'€™s 10 years of experience, we have handled 435 graft cases. Ministers, governors, regents, mayors and ambassadors [have been implicated in graft cases],'€ Adnan said during an event in Riau province.

'€œThe most recent decision was to name former vice president Boediono a suspect. We have also caught the former chief of the Constitutional Court red-handed, as well as the former chief of the Supreme Audit Agency,'€ Adnan said.

The conviction of former Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor Budi Mulya in July in connection with the Bank Century bailout confirmed the involvement of Boediono, who served as the central bank governor when the bailout decision was made.

The former vice president came under fire following the conviction, as he held the bank'€™s highest post when the bailout occurred.

On Friday, KPK deputy chairman Busyro Muqoddas issued a statement denying that a new suspect had been named in the investigation into the Bank Century bailout.

'€œLet me correct [Adnan'€™s statement], it was not true because there is no case expose executed under his [Boediono'€™s] name,'€ Busyro announced on Thursday.

KPK spokesperson Johan Budi held a press conference at KPK headquarters Thursday afternoon, also to clarify Adnan'€™s statement.

'€œHe did not intend to say that Boediono had been named a graft suspect, I have met with Adnan Pandu and he explained to me that he was just trying to talk about the KPK'€™s achievements to the audience, implying that the KPK did not consider rank or position a barrier to indicting someone in a graft case,'€ Johan said.

Johan added that the KPK was currently waiting for the High Court'€™s decision on Budi Mulya'€™s appeal before carrying out any further investigations or naming any new suspects.

'€œAt this point Boediono is not a graft suspect in the Bank Century case. We are still waiting for the court to rule on Budi Mulya'€™s appeal,'€ he said.

In July, the Jakarta Corruption Court convicted the first person in connection to Bank Century'€™s Rp 6.7 trillion (US$549.7 million) bailout, handing down a 10-year prison sentence to Budi Mulya.

The panel of judges at the court found that Budi Mulya had abused his authority alongside his colleagues on the BI board of governors, which included Boediono and former BI senior deputy governor, Miranda Goeltom.

A day after the verdict, Boediono, through his then spokesperson Yopie Hidayat, said that the verdict was based on '€œinadequate'€ evidence and testimony from '€œparties who were incompetent'€.

'€œThe panel of judges closed their eyes to the facts that came up in the trial, which indicated that there was a crisis at the time of the bailout. The failure of a bank would have systematically affected Indonesia'€™s economy badly. The panel of judges, however, took into account testimony from parties who were incompetent [in understanding this fact],'€ Yopie said, delivering Boediono'€™s comments.