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s issues snowball surrounding the country’s electronic identity card (e-KTP) project, it has been revealed that key officials rebuffed advice to safeguard the program from corruption.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said it had delivered recommendations to former home minister Gamawan Fauzi to avoid embezzlement in the large project, which has caused state losses of Rp 2 trillion (US$154 million).

KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo, who led the National Procurement Agency (LKPP) when the procurement occurred between 2011 and 2012, said the agency had suggested Gamawan split the project, worth a total of Rp 6 trillion, into smaller units and conduct e-procurement to maintain transparency, all of which was ignored by the minister.

The anticorruption body similarly suggested that the Home Ministry take precautions to prevent graft, which also fell on deaf ears.

KPK spokesperson Yuyuk Indriati said the commission had issued several recommendations in order to prevent graft in the project, but the advice was ignored by Gamawan’s office.

“We also submitted a copy of the recommendations to the president [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono], but the project in fact went ahead,” Yuyuk told The Jakarta Post.

The e-KTP program is a hallmark project for the government that began during former president Yudhoyono’s administration. The program aims to centralize population registration nationwide and ease public service delivery, as well as preparations for elections.

The program is yet to get into full swing because of delays in its implementation, caused by alleged corruption. Many citizens have still not received their e-KTP.

Gamawan, who has been accused of accepting $2.5 million in bribes, has been questioned twice in the past two weeks. He has claimed that he informed all related institutions, including the KPK and the LKPP, about the project and received their approval.

He said the Home Ministry had invited the antigraft body to oversee the project back in 2011, but instead the KPK began a probe into the case in 2013.

“I conducted a presentation about the project at the KPK and the KPK later recommended that the project be overseen by the LKPP, which was led by Pak Agus Rahardjo at that time,” Gamawan said after his second questioning session on Friday.

The antigraft body has so far named two suspects in the case. The most recent suspect is Gamawan’s former aide Irman, the ministry’s former population and civil registry director. The investigation has been focusing on the recipients of kickbacks in the project.

Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo, who served as finance minister at the time of the alleged corruption, was also summoned last week, but he did not show up for questioning.

Gamawan continued to emphasize that he did not make decisions for the project on his own.

Besides naming the KPK chief as one of the officials who had been informed about the project, he said Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who also served as finance minister before Martowardojo, knew about the procurement.

The KPK said it had no plans to summon Sri Mulyani or the commission’s chief. “As of today there is no such plan [to question Rahardjo and Sri Mulyani, although it is true that] the project was discussed during the leadership of Sri Mulyani before the office was led by Agus Martowardjojo,” Yuyuk said.

Muhammad Nazaruddin, who has been convicted in various corruption cases, claimed that Gamawan and the BI governor had received dirty money for going ahead with the project despite warnings from several institutions.

Nazaruddin revealed that Sri Mulyani rejected a proposal for a multiyear budget for the project when she was in office, but Martowardojo later reviewed and approved the proposal after he took the helm of the ministry.