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Golkar politician fights back after being implicated in e-ID graft
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A panel of judges sits during the first hearing of a corruption case relating to the multimillion dollar procurement of e-IDs at the Jakarta Corruption Court on March 9. (AP/Safrin La Batu)
G
olkar Party politician Melchias Mekeng filed a criminal complaint with the police on Monday against a businessman who mentioned his name in court as one of scores of people who allegedly accepted kickbacks from the nearly Rp 6 trillion (US$451 million) e-ID card project.
Melchias claimed he did not even know Andi Narogong, the businessman who won the e-ID card tender. He accused Andi of giving false statements to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and of slandering him.
"I’ve never seen him in person," Melchias told reporters after filing his report with the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim).
Melchias was first mentioned in a Jakarta Corruption Court hearing in 2010 by former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, as one of his fellow lawmakers who had received kickbacks from the alleged embezzlement that caused state losses of Rp 2.3 trillion.
The mega corruption case has implicated dozens of politicians, former government bureaucrats and businesspeople. Among the bigwigs are House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto and former home minister Gamawan Fauzi.
Melchias is also planning to file a criminal complaint against Nazaruddin, who is serving 13 years’ imprisonment for corruption and money laundering in an unrelated case.
Melchias was a former chairman of House Commission XI overseeing finance in 2009 to 2014, while the e-ID scheme began at the end of January 2010 when the Home Ministry sought Rp 6.9 trillion for the demographic administration information system project. (hol)
