National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti (Kompas.com)

Making a profit by claiming to represent someone when in fact you do not is fraud, the National Police chief said on Tuesday upon hearing of the alleged unscrupulous use of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla'€™s names in a backroom deal involving PT Freeport Indonesia and a top lawmaker.

Gen. Badrodin Haiti said the Criminal Code stipulated that such false claims of representation for personal financial gain constituted fraud.

He was speaking about House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto, who allegedly falsely cited Jokowi and Kalla's approval when asking for Freeport shares in return for his helping the mining giant secure a contract extension.

"The President and Vice President felt they did not [sanction the transaction], so someone must have lied in the hope of trading on their names. That lie is considered fraud," Badrodin told newsportal kompas.com.

However, law enforcement agencies cannot take immediate action because an investigation must start with a report from the victims, which in this case are the President and Vice President.

"If [Jokowi and Kalla] do not make a complaint then everything is OK. Especially as the shares that [Novanto] requested have not been traded yet. It would be different if that had happened," he said.

The police would wait, said Badrodin, for a final decision from the House's ethics council before taking action on the case.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said reported what he described as '€œa powerful lawmaker'€ to the ethics council on Monday and handed in supporting documents, including conversation transcripts. The lawmaker, Sudirman alleged, had asked for meetings with Freeport outside of his capacity as a legislator.

Also alleged was that upon meeting with Freeport officials, the lawmaker promised to help them accelerate their contract renegotiation in return for a 20 percent share for Jokowi and Kalla, and that he had offered Freeport an investment share in a power plant project in Timika, Papua, in which he himself requested a 49 percent share.

Later on Monday night in a televised interview on Metro TV, Sudirman disclosed that the lawmaker in question was the House speaker.

The host, Najwa Shihab, asked Sudirman whether the photos in the reports, which had been shared widely and bore Setya's name, were legitimate.

"There is a ministerial letterhead and my signature. Yes, that'€™s the report that I gave to the ethics council," he confirmed. (rin)

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