T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said on Monday that it had issued a second summons for Banten Governor Rano Karno for questioning as a witness in a bribery case involving the establishment of a bank in the province.

The antigraft body sent the summons to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician, who failed to appear for questioning in December.

KPK spokesperson Priharsa Nugraha said the actor-cum-politician would be questioned this week without disclosing details about the plan.

He said KPK investigators needed to question the governor regarding the Banten administration'€™s disbursement of hundreds of billions of rupiah for the bank'€™s establishment.

Banten Legislative Council (DPRD Banten) Deputy Speaker SM Hartono of the Golkar Party and the council'€™s PDI-P faction head, Tri Satria Sentosa, were charged with corruption after being caught allegedly accepting US$11,000 and Rp 60 million from PT Banten Global Development (BGD) executive Ricky Tampinongkol in exchange for the disbursement of Rp 350 billion in state funds to establish the regional bank.

'€œThe questioning is related to the plan to establish the bank,'€ Priharsa said on Monday at the KPK office on Monday.

Priharsa said Rano had asked the KPK to reschedule his questioning in December because he had official duties on Dec. 18 that he could not skip, adding that the politician would be questioned as a witness for Ricky in the case.

DPRD Banten approved the disbursement of Rp 600 billion, on top of Rp 350 billion allocated in the 2016 budget, to support the establishment of the bank. Tri and Hartono are accused of accepting bribes several times between 2012 and 2014.

Rano could not be reached for comment on Monday night to confirm whether he would honor the KPK summons.

Earlier, Rano said the plan to establish the bank was in line with Banten'€™s 2013 mid-term regional development plan (RPJMD) and had nothing to do with his own interest as the highest authority in the province.

He further said the disbursement of funds for the Banten regional bank was justified under a regional regulation issued by the Banten administration on capital injection for PT BGD in 2013.

Rano added that members of the public should not associate the establishment of the bank conducted by the administration with the bribery case implicating the two local legislators in Banten because the Banten administration knew nothing about the alleged bribery.

The PDI-P politician appointed PT BGD to conduct a study on the establishment of the regional bank and to consult with the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to seek advice on the plan for six months in 2015.

After finishing the consultation and study on Nov. 30, PT BDG submitted a report to Rano and told him that four banks should be merged to establish the regional bank.

The four banks are private lender Bank Pundi, which is controlled by Recapital Securities, part of the Recapital Group founded by businessmen Rosan P. Roeslani, Sandiaga Uno and Elvin Ramli; Bank Windu Kentjana International (MCOR), a small, publicly listed lender based in Jakarta; publicly listed Bank MNC Internasional (MNC Bank); and Panin Bank Syariah.

Just three days after PT BGD handed the report to Rano, KPK investigators arrested Ricky for paying bribes to Hartono and Tri for helping to secure the budget allocation from the DPRD Banten to establish the regional bank.

Rano assumed the top job at the Banten administration after former Banten governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah was convicted in a separate bribery case in 2014.