T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned on Friday Setiadi, the president director of PT Abdi Bumi Cendrawasih, in his capacity as a suspect in a graft case related to the deliberation of state funds for a micro-hydro power plant in Deiyai, Papua.

The case also implicates Dewi Yasin Limpo, a Hanura Party politician who served on House Commission VII overseeing energy, and also the sister of South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo.

Setiadi is alleged to have paid Dewi S$177,700 (US$126,000) in bribes to ensure that the project, which was worth hundreds of billions of rupiah, was covered by the 2016 state budget.

'€œKPK investigators questioned Setiadi about discussion on arranging the budget for the project in question,'€ KPK spokeswoman Yuyuk Andriati said.

Setiadi was allegedly caught red-handed while handing over bribe money to Dewi'€™s private secretary, Rinelda Bandaso in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, on Oct. 20. In addition to them, the KPK also apprehended head of Deiyai Mining Agency Irianus Aldi.

After the initial arrests, KPK investigators apprehended Dewi and her staff member Bambang Wahyu Hadi at Terminal 2F of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on the same day.

All five were named suspects in the bribery case and have been detained at the antigraft body'€™s detention center since last month.

Also on Friday, the KPK questioned Rinelda, who admitted that Dewi had asked her to collect the alleged bribe money but denied that she was promised 7 percent of the money for acting as an intermediary.

The project in question was under the supervision of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said acknowledged that he knew about the project and had received the proposal earlier this year.

Dewi, he said, had explained the urgency of needing to construct the micro-hydro power plant in April.

However, the project had yet to be included in the 2016 state budget because the ministry'€™s director general of new, renewable energy and energy conservation rejected the proposal because it lacked supporting documents, including a feasibility study, he said.

This is not the first graft case surrounding the ministry.

In 2014, the KPK questioned former minister and Democratic Party senior politician Jero Wacik as a suspect in a number of graft cases.

He was involved in embezzling money from several procurement projects at his ministry from 2011 until 2013. (foy)