The criminal charges leveled against powerful lobbyist Andi Agustinus, alias Andi Narogong, for his alleged role in the e-ID graft case could pave the way for the antigraft body to net other big fish in the metastasizing mega scandal.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Andi a suspect in the case and arrested him on Thursday, less than a month after the KPK detailed his alleged role during a court hearing.

Andi played a key role in the high-profile case by allegedly lobbying members of the House of Representatives to ease the budgeting process for the multimillion dollar project and then rig the tender at the Home Ministry, according to the KPK’s indictment against the first two suspects in the case, Irman and Sugiharto.

Andi’s arrest may drag several political figures, including House Speaker Setya Novanto and former home minister Gamawan Fauzi, further into the case.

Based on the KPK indictment, Setya, who leads Golkar Party and is a major supporter of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, allegedly helped Andi secure the House’s approval to disburse Rp 5.9 trillion (US$440 million) from the state budget for the project between 2010 and 2013. Of the Rp 5.9 trillion that was disbursed, some Rp 2.3 trillion was embezzled and distributed to a number of parties.

Gamawan allegedly reorganized the project’s source of financing from foreign loans to the budget after being showered with $4.5 million and Rp 50 million by Andi, according to the indictment. The former minister has repeatedly denied receiving money from Andi.

KPK commissioner Alexander Marwata said the KPK would step up its investigation into the case and would not stop at Irman, Sugiharto and Andi.

“Andi allegedly had an active role in the budgeting and procurement process by holding meetings with the two defendants and House legislators as well as Home Ministry officials in order to secure the project,” Alexander said on Thursday evening.

“[He] funneled money to a number of parties including members of House Commission II, the House’s budget committee [Banggar] and Home Ministry officials,” the KPK official added.

The House reportedly approved Rp 5.9 trillion in the budget for the project after Andi and Setya agreed that 51 percent, Rp 2.6 trillion, of the fund would be used to procure the project, and the remaining 49 percent, Rp 2.5 trillion, would be funneled to members of House Commission II overseeing home affairs, Banggar and Home Ministry officials.

After the budget was approved, Andi, known as a businessman who handled state projects at the Home Ministry, then lobbied Home Ministry officials at the time, namely Irman, the director for civil registration, and Sugiharto, an official in charge of the tender for the project, to declare companies affiliated with Andi as winners of the project.

The KPK has charged Andi with illegally enriching himself and others as stipulated in Article 2 of the 1999 Corruption Law, and collective crimes as stipulated in Article 55 of the Criminal Code.

The use of Article 55 indicates that the KPK will look into other parties that helped Andi orchestrate the dirty scheme. “We ask for members of the public to throw their support behind the KPK,” Alexander said, adding that the antigraft body planned to step up its investigation in the future.

On the same day, KPK investigators raided three places in Cibubur in order to build their case against Andi. The KPK declined to disclose more information about the raids.

Setya has strongly denied that he was close to Andi, although he admitted that they once had a business partnership.

“I met Andi once to arrange my business selling t-shirts,” he said in a recent interviews at the House complex.

However, several legislators and Golkar officials interviewed by The Jakarta Post have claimed that Setya was close to Andi.

The sources, who declined to be named, said Andi was often seen in Golkar’s faction rooms at the House at the time Setya was the head of the Golkar faction when the budgeting process for the project was underway. They even referred to Andi as “Setya’s close friend”.

Setya has dismissed these claims, saying that his “one-time business with Andi” took place when he was treasurer of the party, not when he was leader of the party’s faction at the House.

From Golkar, Andi received backing from Setya. From the Democratic Party, the businessman was supported by former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, both of whom received $5.5 million from the project.

Andi also allegedly bribed politicians from the PDI-P, the opposition party at the time, to strengthen his position at the House.

Andi’s arrest may drag high-profile figures further into e-ID case KPK says it will step up investigation into case.