Speaking to the press on Wednesday, KPK spokesperson Ali Fikri said that the antigraft agency had found enough evidence in its investigation to indicate that Lukas could also be guilty of money laundering, in addition to accepting bribes.

"The KPK has found sufficient evidence in the alleged bribery and gratuity case against [Lukas]. But, as the investigation went on, KPK investigators also found [indication of] other alleged crimes,” Ali said, as quoted by tempo.co. “The KPK has now named him a suspect of money laundering.”

Ali went on to say that the KPK was currently focusing its investigation on Lukas' confiscated assets, which includes properties, one kilogram of gold, four bank accounts and a luxury car, kompas.id reported.

Lukas’ lawyer, Petrus Bala Pattyona, also confirmed Lukas’ new status as a money laundering suspect, saying on Wednesday that the KPK made the decision following a two-hour questioning session.

“The examination was brief, the majority of questions were surrounding the assets owned by Lukas during his tenure as Papua governor," Petrus said, as reported by kompas.id.

Lukas was previously named as a graft suspect in September 2022 for allegedly accepting a Rp 1 billion (US$67,889) bribe from Rijatono Lakka, director of a contractor company in Papua, in return for awarding Rijatono’s company government infrastructure projects.

Read also: KPK digs probe into money laundering in Lukas graft case

The bribes were thought to have involved at least three multi-year projects from 2019 to 2021, with a total worth of more than Rp 40 billion. Lukas was also thought to be given a 14 percent cut from the projects.

This was in addition to a report from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) linking Lukas’ bank accounts to a series of suspicious financial transactions, including payments totaling S$55 million (US$41.5 million) to overseas casinos since 2017.

Since being named a graft suspect last year, Lukas has cited health concerns to avoid KPK summonses, with his legal team even pushing for Lukas to receive medical treatment outside of the country, which the KPK rejected.

His reluctance to heed the KPK’s calls led to his forced arrest during a sting operation in Papua in January, which was followed by riots incited by Lukas’ loyalists. A total of 19 people were arrested following the incident, while one bystander was shot dead by a stray bullet.

Read also: Govt forms suspicious transactions task force

The KPK’s allegations of money laundering against Lukas adds to the list of public officials that are currently being investigated for suspicious financial transactions.

To this end, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD announced earlier this week the creation of a joint task force to dig into suspicious transactions at the Finance Ministry, thought to amount to Rp 349 trillion.

“The joint task force will focus on the highest value audit report [LHP] worth Rp 189 trillion as it has fallen under public scrutiny,” Mahfud told a Monday press briefing.