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Investigators to interrogate BPK official in BTS graft case
Investigators from the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) are set to grill a Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) official Achsanul Qosasi as a witness in their investigation into a botched procurement for a telephony project at the Communications and Information Ministry.
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A worker checks a base transceiver station (BTS) tower in Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan on June 8, 2023. (Antara/Fakhri Hermansyah)
Investigators from the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) are set to grill a Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) official, Achsanul Qosasi, as a witness in their investigation into a botched procurement for a telephony project at the Communications and Information Ministry.
The AGO is currently also investigating suspected attempts to ward off investigations into the graft-ridden project to erect 4G base transceiver stations (BTS) in underdeveloped regions.
The AGO has sent a letter to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo requesting his written approval for interrogating Achsanul, which is required by the prevailing 2006 BPK Law.
“So we are now waiting for the approval so that we can subpoena Achsanul to be present for questioning as a witness,” AGO spokesperson Ketut Sumedana said on Tuesday.
Achsanul’s name was mentioned in a trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court last week by one of the defendants in the corruption case: Galumbang Menak Simanjuntak, president director of private telecom infrastructure company PT Mora Telematika Indonesia. Galumbang is accused of lining up companies affiliated with him to be contracted as vendors in the government telephony project using manipulated rules and marked-up prices.
While Galumbang is also implicated in the alleged plot to interfere with the AGO corruption investigation into the BTS project, it remains unclear which of the two cases the investigators will seek information about from Achsanul.
Suspicions that a BPK official might have been involved in the alleged attempts to thwart the BTS graft investigation emerged for the first time in late September during the trial of former communications minister Johnny G. Plate.
