T

he National Police have said that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has agreed to oversee their investigation into the politically charged corruption case involving the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) and PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI).

'€œThe KPK will supervise [the investigation] and we will also coordinate with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre [PPATK] and Supreme Audit Agency [BPK],'€ National Police special economic crimes director Brig. Gen. Victor E. Simanjuntak said on Wednesday.

Victor said the KPK and police had been investigating the case separately before deciding that the police would lead the investigation.

'€œAfter a meeting, KPK leaders said the police could handle the case and the KPK was willing to hand over its investigation documents to help,'€ he said.

The police revealed earlier that several officials from TPPI and SKKMigas were suspected of money laundering and corruption. From 2009 until 2010, TPPI collaborated with SKKMigas to market condensate in Indonesia, but the firm never paid profits from the sale to the government-run agency.

Despite the alleged foul play, SKKMigas continued to extend its contracts with the firm.

According to investigators, the case caused state losses of US$156 million.

Victor said that TPPI'€™s appointment to market SKKMigas'€™ condensate on May 3, 2009, was decided without an official review as ordered by regulations issued by the now-defunct BPMigas in 2003.

Furthermore, TPPI had started selling the condensate immediately after the appointment even though the contract had not been finalized until October 2009.

He said that the appointment of TPPI violated articles 2 and 3 of the 2001 Corruption Law and Article 3 of the 2003 Money Laundering Law, and could lead to a 20-year prison sentence for those found guilty.

Victor said police investigators had already named an SKKMigas official, identified only by the initials DH, a suspect in the case.

'€œWe sent an official investigation notification to the Attorney General'€™s Office [AGO] this week. We named DH a suspect based on the testimonies of three witnesses and several pieces of evidence,'€ he said, adding that it was likely that more officials would be named suspects.

The KPK has investigated several graft cases involving SKKMigas. Former SKKMigas chief Rudi Rubiandini was sentenced to seven years in prison last year for accepting $900,000 and $200,000 in bribes from Widodo Ratanachaitong of Kernel Oil Private Limited. He was also found guilty of pocketing $522,000 in bribes from the president director of PT Kaltim Parna Industri, Artha Meris Simbolon, who was sentenced to three years in prison.

Former energy and mineral resources minister Jero Wacik had also been accused by the KPK of ordering the ministry'€™s former secretary-general, Waryono Karno, to collect a case from SKKMigas to be given to the then head of House of Representatives Commission VII on energy, Sutan Bhatoegana, also a suspect.

Interim KPK commissioner Johan Budi said, however, that the antigraft body had not been briefed by the police regarding their probe into the TPPI-SKKMigas graft case.

Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the younger brother of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, issued a statement on Wednesday night in which he said that he no longer had ties with TPPI.

Hashim said that although he founded TPPI in 1995 with his business partner Honggo Wendratno, he had given up all his company shares to the now-defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (BPPN) in 1998.

'€œAfter giving up my shares, I was no longer involved with TPPI. In fact, in 2002, the BPPN restructured the company without involving me or Al Njoo,'€ Hashim said in a statement, referring to Honggo by his Chinese name.