oordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani has denied a claim made by graft defendant Setya Novanto that she was among the politicians taking bribe money related to the e-ID graft case.
"I have just heard about that. What he said is wrong," Puan, a senior member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the daughter of PDI-P leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, said as quoted by Kompas.com on Friday.
On Thursday, Setya told the Jakarta Corruption Court that he was told that Puan and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung received US$500,000 each from businessman Made Oka Masagung, a suspect in the e-ID graft case.
Setya said that Made Oka and another businessman, Andi Agustinus, visited his home one day to tell him that Made Oka had handed over a sum of money to several lawmakers.
“I asked [Made Oka], ‘to whom?’ He told me $500,000 for Puan and $500,000 for Pramono,” he told the court.
Puan acknowledged that she knew Made Oka but made it clear that she never talked about the e-ID project with him or any other people involved in the case.
"I've never talked [about the e-ID procurement]. At that time, the PDI-P was in opposition, while the project was initiated by the government. There must have been [discussions] about the project at the House [of Representatives] at that time, but I never joined the talks," Puan said. (foy/ahw)
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