T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has charged Southeast Sulawesi Governor Nur Alam with bribery in connection to dozens of mining permits he issued between 2009 and 2014 in the resource-rich province.

The case was first investigated by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) in December 2014 after receiving a tip-off from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), which detected suspicious transfers of Rp 1 trillion (US$75.6 million) from and to the governor’s bank accounts.

The money is believed to be related to Alam’s issuance of mining permits during his tenure as governor.

The Jakarta Post has learned that of the Rp 1 trillion in irregular transactions in question, as much as $4.5 million was transferred to the National Mandate Party (PAN) politician from a mining company based in Hong Kong.

The KPK took over the case after the AGO was reluctant to name the PAN politician a suspect in the case, saying it needed more time to investigate. The PPATK submitted its analysis of Alam’s bank accounts in December 2014.

“We have built this case carefully for quite some time now from preliminary to primary investigation up until identifying the suspect. This case should serve as a lesson for other provinces not to violate the law in issuing [mining] permits,” KPK commissioner Laode M. Syarif said on Tuesday.

The KPK accused Alam of abusing his authority by providing an exploration permit to company PT AHD to engage in illegal mining in Buton regency.

In addition to naming him a suspect, the antigraft body also searched Alam’s office in the province, as well as a number of sites in Jakarta.

Syarif said that the KPK would expand its investigation in order to find the parties who had transferred money to Alam’s bank accounts.

“We are still counting [the amount] and we’ve already managed to get the transfer receipts. The amount is significant, but we have not finished calculating it,” Syarief said.

The KPK is also looking to charge Alam with money laundering after the PPATK convinced the commission that the transfers to and from his bank constituted money-laundering offences.

 “This case has a connection with the investigation the AGO has opened. We will coordinate with the AGO,” the KPK commissioner said.

The KPK said that local officials issuing the permits had collected money from companies and that the money was later given to Alam on several occasions, adding that part of the suspicious transfers in Alam’s bank accounts were in the form of insurance.