T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) stepped up its investigation into a bribery case surrounding the discussion of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry budget at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The antigraft body has charged the ministry'€™s secretary-general, Waryono Karno, with corruption for allegedly collecting illegal payments from agencies under the supervision of the ministry, including the former Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) and state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina.

The money was then distributed to pay lawmakers at House Commission VII overseeing energy, which oversees the ministry, when it was led by Democratic Party politician Jero Wacik, who wanted to get the ministry'€™s budget endorsed by the House.

To confirm the information, the KPK questioned on Tuesday former House Commission VII chairman Sutan Bhatoegana. Sutan was earlier charged with corruption by the KPK in a separate graft case.

Speaking before his questioning session, Sutan declined to comment on the matter to reporters.

'€œThis is just a regular questioning session,'€ said Sutan, a founding member of the Democratic Party along with Jero, a known confidant of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the chairman of the Democratic Party.

KPK deputy chairman Adnan Pandu Praja said that with the questioning of Sutan, the antigraft body would expand its investigation to look into possibilities of charging other members of Commission VII with graft for allegedly accepting money from the ministry.

'€œIt is highly possible because decisions [at Commission VII] are made collectively, not individually,'€ Pandu said at KPK headquarters.

In February 2014 during the trial of former SKKMigas chairman Rudi Rubiandini, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for accepting bribes from oil and gas companies, Didi Dwi Sutrisno, former financial head at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, acknowledged that he had delivered US$140,000, taken from SKKMigas'€™ coffers, to an aide of Sutan.

'€œPak Waryono then called a member of his staff, Ego Syahrial, for assistance. After speaking with Ego, Pak Waryono asked me to call a SKKMigas officer named Hardiono. I handed the phone to Pak Waryono and they had a conversation.'€

Soon after the conversation, Didi said, Hardiono arrived with $140,000 in cash.

'€œPak Waryono then wrote down the names of the people set to receive money based on their positions: the chairman, deputy chairmen, administrative staff and members [of Commission VII],'€ Didi said.

The money was placed in four envelopes, each containing $7,500, for the chairman and deputy chairmen; 43 envelopes for members, each of which contained $2,500, and one envelope containing $2,500 for Commission VII administrative staff.

Didi said the ministry also gave '€œpocket money'€ for overseas trips taken by a number of Commission VII members, but he did not disclose the total amount.