TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Setya testifies that Puan, Pramono received e-ID graft money
Former House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto has testified during Thursday's court hearing that illicit money gained from the e-ID graft case was also distributed to Puan Maharani and Pramono Anung, two senior officials of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Change Size
Graft defendant Setya Novanto (left) listens to witnesses testify against him during a on Feb. 19 hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
F
ormer House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto has testified during Thursday's court hearing that illicit money gained from the e-ID graft case was also distributed to Puan Maharani and Pramono Anung, two senior officials of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The two politicians, who are serving as Cabinet ministers in the President Joko Widodo government, allegedly received US$500,000 each from the e-ID procurement project between 2009 and 2012, when they were House lawmakers.
“Puan Maharani [as the] head of the PDI-P faction and Pramono [each] received $500,000,” said Setya in the defense's testimony on Thursday at the Jakarta Corruption Court.
The former Golkar chairman added that the amount was determined by businessman Made Oka Masagung, who was also named as a suspect in the major graft case by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Setya continued, saying that Made Oka and another businessman, Andi Agustinus, visited his home one day to tell him that Oka had handed over a sum of money to several lawmakers.
“I asked him, ‘to whom?’ He told me $500,000 for Puan and $500,000 for Pramono,” he told the court.
Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani, the daughter of PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, and Cabinet Secretary Pramono were not on the list of the alleged recipients of e-ID graft money in the prosecution's indictment. KPK investigators had never questioned the two as witnesses during the long and intensive course of the investigation into the graft case, which is said to have cost the state Rp 2.3 trillion (US$170 million) in losses. (srs/rin)
