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graft case involving senior officials at the Agriculture Ministry could implicate Minister Amran Sulaiman following the Corruption Eradication Commission'€™s (KPK) plan to summon him as a witness.

The KPK is currently investigating alleged corruption in the procurement of fertilizer for Rp 18 billion (US$1.33 million) in 2013 at the ministry, which has implicated the ministry'€™s horticulture director general Hasanuddin Ibarahim.

KPK spokesman Yuyuk Indriati said it was a matter of time before investigators would move to question Amran. '€œYes, we have the option on the table,'€ Yuyuk said.

Earlier on Wednesday, KPK investigators grilled two officials from the ministry'€™s horticulture directorate general, identified as Anastasia Promisiana and Kurnia Nur as witnesses to complete the dossier on Hasanuddin, who was named a suspect in the case on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, the KPK named as suspects another official from the ministry, Eko Mardianto, who was in charge of supervising the project, and Sutrisno, the businessman who won the project.

Hasanuddin and Eko have been accused of rigging the project in favor of Sutrisno.

The three individuals also allegedly colluded to mark up the price of the procured fertilizer, which was intended to be distributed to farmers around the country. The procurement is believed to have caused state losses of Rp 10 billion.

The three suspects have been charged under Article 2 and Article 3 of Law No. 31/1999 on corruption, which collectively carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison for people committing self-enrichment or enriching other people in a state project.

The KPK has asked the immigration office to issue travel bans on Hasanuddin, Eko and Sutrisno.

When contacted, Amran said he had done enough to control the damage at the ministry resulting from Hasanuddin'€™s corrupt action.

Amran said he had fired Hasanuddin for his role in rigging the project.

The minister also said he could not be blamed for the graft as he was sworn in October 2014, a full year after the procurement project started in 2013, when the ministry was under the leadership of Suswono, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician, who served from 2009 to 2014.

'€œAfter I found that the KPK questioned his subordinates in the case, I summoned him [Hasanuddin]; then I fired him, because he should be held accountable in the case,'€ Amran told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Amran said that he had dismissed Hasanuddin from his position in December last year, the month the KPK started a preliminary investigation into the case.

'€œI moved faster than the KPK in the case. Before he was named a suspect, I had already fired him from the ministry,'€ Amran said.

A graft trial of former PKS chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, who was later found guilty of rigging a government beef procurement project at Suswono'€™s office, revealed in 2013 that Hasanuddin was the husband of a powerful lobbyist, known as Bunda Putri, who is known to have ties with former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s inner circle.