T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) stepped up its investigation into a bribery case involving officials from the UK'€™s Innospec Ltd. regarding the rigging of contracts for the supply of a fuel additive called tetraethyl lead (TEL) in 2002 by grilling a high-ranking official from state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina on Thursday.

Elizar P. Hasibuan, who currently serves as vice president director of Pertamina EP, the upstream business unit of Pertamina, was questioned as a witness in the case.

'€œElizar was questioned to complete the dossier on former Pertamina director Suroso Atmo Martoyo,'€ said KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha.

Suroso is one of two people to be named suspects in the bribery case.

The other suspect in the case is Willy Sebastian Liem, who was the director of PT Soegih Interjaya (PTSI), an Innospec agent in Indonesia. Both were named suspects in 2011.

In addition to the case, Innospec sold TEL to Pertamina between 2002 and 2006 through its agent, PT PTSI. During this period, the sales of TEL to Indonesia reached US$170.17 million. The agents received $11.7 million in commissions.

Elizar declined to speak to reporters after being questioned for hours. Surprised to see a crowd of reporters waiting for him outside the KPK building, he tried to avoid being photographed by covering his face with a plastic binder containing documents.

'€œPlease ask KPK investigators about the questioning,'€ he said while fleeing from reporters.

Managing to escape the crowd, he ran to the KPK main gate to look for a taxi. Reporters charged after him to press him for a quote about his questioning.

Journalists managed to surround him in front of the KPK building on Jl. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta, but still he refused to comment. When no taxi appeared, Elizar abruptly stopped an old, unair-conditioned Kopaja minibus and jumped aboard to make his escape.

It remains unclear what role Elizar may have played in the bribery case. A number of high-ranking Pertamina officials have also been questioned in the case.

The Innospec case was left over from the tenure of former KPK chief Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean, who was appointed by then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to replace Antasari Azhar, who was convicted for murder in 2009.

Late last year, the antigraft body was strongly criticized by antigraft activists for failing to question and detain Suroso and Willy after declaring them suspects in the case in 2011.

In addition, KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto explained that was taking years for the antigraft body to investigate the case because it involved people from another country, adding that the KPK had maintained contact with the British authorities for years to collect evidence in the case.

'€œWe are increasing our speed to finish the investigation. We hope that the investigation can be finished in the near future,'€ Bambang said.

The case was first investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the United Kingdom'€™s anticorruption body, in 2010. As result of the investigation, Innospec was fined £8.3 million in 2010 by the Southwark Crown Court in England after admitting to bribing Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and Pertamina officials, including Suroso, to secure TEL contracts.