T

he younger brother of suspended Banten governor Ratu Atut, Tubagus Chaeri '€œWawan'€ Wardana, who was earlier sentenced to five years in prison in a bribery case, will soon stand trial in a separate corruption and money laundering case.

If convicted, Wawan could spend 20 years in prison, the businessman'€™s lawyer has confirmed.

Wawan'€™s lawyer Maqdir Ismail said on Tuesday that KPK investigators were currently wrapping up their investigation into his client and it was expected that Wawan'€™s dossier would be completed in the first week of February.

'€œInvestigators have reached the last stage of their investigation. Pak Wawan was questioned today as a suspect in the case; we hope the investigation will wrap up early next month,'€ Maqdir said at the KPK headquarters on Tuesday.

Wawan was earlier sentenced to four years behind bars for bribing former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar, who has also been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the case.

KPK investigators earlier found sufficient evidence to back their claim that the siblings had rigged a number of state projects worth billions of rupiah at the Banten administration and at Banten'€™s South Tangerang administration, where Wawan'€™s wife Airin Rachmy Diani serves as mayor.

The siblings have been accused of rigging two health equipment procurement projects at the two administrations.

KPK investigators charged Wawan with money laundering for allegedly embezzling hundreds of millions of rupiah from the projects in a move to conceal the flow of dirty money.

The KPK is now working to collect more evidence to also charge Atut with money laundering.

On Tuesday, KPK investigators questioned Yayah Rodiah, a treasurer at one of Wawan'€™s companies.

'€œYayah was questioned as a witness in the case,'€ KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said at the KPK headquarters on Tuesday.

Last week, KPK investigators again questioned Airin to verify her role in the case.

Atut has long been known for her efforts to build a political dynasty in the province. A number of her relatives control five of the eight regencies and municipalities in Banten, granting her full control over trillions of rupiah for state projects in the regencies and cities under the province'€™s control.

In addition to Airin, her stepbrother Tubagus Haerul Jaman serves as Serang'€™s mayor, while her sister Tatu Chasanah serves as Serang deputy regent and her stepmother Heryani is Pandeglang deputy regent. They are all Golkar Party politicians.

As of Tuesday, the KPK had seized around 80 vehicles, from luxury cars to trucks, which were allegedly bought using dirty money that Wawan embezzled from Airin and Atut'€™s offices.

According to a wealth report she submitted to the KPK on Aug. 24, 2010, Airin was in possession of property worth Rp 103 billion (US$8.25 million) and luxury cars such as a Range Rover Sport, a Mercedes-Benz, a Mini Cooper, a Lamborghini, a Toyota Alphard, a Ferrari and a Porsche Panamera worth Rp 22.1 billion.