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uspended North Sumatra governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho confirmed on Wednesday that his lawyer OC Kaligis had given Rp 500 million to the investigation unit director of the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) special crimes division, Maruli Hutagalung, to halt a graft investigation implicating him.

Gatot, who is a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician, said he had given money to Kaligis to be used for the plan to stop the case. He said Kaligis, who had once worked together with Attorney General M. Prasetyo in the NasDem Party, reported to him once he had passed on the money to Maruli.

'€œ'€˜We have given the Rp 500 million to Maruli'€™,'€ Gatot quoted Kaligis as saying after being grilled by AGO investigators at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters on Wednesday with regard to a social aid fund corruption case in which he has been named a suspect and is currently being investigated by the AGO.

Gatot planned to stop the investigation by seeking help from Kaligis and then-NasDem secretary-general Patrice Rio Capella, believing they could use their NasDem connections to woo Prasetyo regarding the plan.

Kaligis suggested that Gatot use Rio'€™s services to bridge communications between the governor and Prasetyo due to Rio'€™s influential position at that time.

While the AGO still is investigating the corruption case, the KPK has moved to name Gatot a suspect in a separate investigation for allegedly bribing Rio with Rp 200 million to stop the case at the AGO.

'€œDuring today'€™s questioning, AGO investigators asked us [Gatot and his wife Evi Susanti] about the money given to Maruli,'€ Gatot said, adding that AGO investigators did not grill him regarding the alleged dirty money intended for Prasetyo.

During Rio'€™s trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday, Evi testified before the panel of judges that she had provided S$20,000 (US$14,113) in cash for Prasetyo to earn the attorney general'€™s support for the scheme to halt the social aid fund case.

The court, however, failed to ask whether the money had been accepted by Prasetyo.

Evi added that Kaligis had the initiative to bribe Maruli, not her or Gatot. '€œAt first, we did not know what the money was for. We just gave it to him. But later Kaligis said that it was for Maruli,'€ Evi said on Thursday.

The KPK has so far failed to summons Prasetyo, Maruli or other AGO officials regarding the allegations.

Acting KPK deputy chairman Indriyanto Seno Adji said the KPK would only investigate the alleged bribery involving Rio and Gatot and would let the AGO handle '€œthe rest'€ of the social aid fund case.

'€œIt is the AGO that handles the social aid fund,'€ Indriyanto said, refusing to comment further on the allegations against Prasetyo and Maruli.

Antigraft activists have suspected that the KPK was reluctant to summons Prasetyo and Maruli because of fears of conflict between the two law enforcement institutions.

The KPK faced paralysis in March after the National Police named two KPK commissioners criminal suspects in petty cases just weeks after the antigraft body named then National Police deputy chief Budi Gunawan a bribery suspect.

In addition to questioning Gatot regarding the allegations against Maruli, the AGO also moved to interrogate Maruli at its headquarters in South Jakarta on Thursday. The AGO said that the grilling was aimed at seeking clarification from Maruli on the allegations.