W

ith the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) appearing to be preoccupied with the beef importation scandal involving the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politicians, many have overlooked the fact that with 32 reports on graft being received every day, the anti-graft body is now struggling to handle other cases.

Among cases that have been sidelined is a bribery case involving state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and a UK-based manufacturer Innospec as well as a tax evasion case implicating investment firm PT Bhakti Investama.

'It's true that we have handled too many cases and now we have to prioritize cases in which suspects were caught red-handed,' KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said on Saturday.

KPK commissioner Bambang Widjojanto said there was a limited window of time for the KPK to make an arrest and when it pressed charges.

Bambang said that in the past few months KPK investigators managed to make arrests of tax officials, politicians and corporate officials and moved quickly to prosecute their cases.

'We can't handle all of them and [that's why] we have asked our investigator and prosecutors to check our schedules [to decide which cases we should prioritize].'

He said that such cases include the tax evasion case against PT Bhakti Investama involving businessman James Gunarjo, who bribed tax official Tommy Hindratno to lower the tax obligation for the company, which the tax office claims owes Rp 3.4 billion (US$350,200) in tax arrears.

The case also involves Antonius Z. Tonbeng, an independent commissioner with Bhakti Investama, who allegedly instructed James to lower the tax obligation.

Tama S. Langkun of the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) called on the KPK to hasten its investigation of other 'neglected' cases.

'We hope that the KPK could soon proceed with its investigation [on those cases]. Emir, for example, hasn't he been named a suspect some time ago?' Tama said, referring to Izedrik Emir Moeis, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) at the House of Representatives.

Emir was named a suspect in a graft case surrounding the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Tarahan, Lampung, on July 26, 2012, for allegedly receiving more than $300,000 in bribes for the project.

Despite having been named a suspect for almost a year, Emir has not been summoned for questioning by the KPK, triggering speculation that the KPK is going nowhere with the case.

Bambang has assured that the KPK investigators are still on the case.

'The progress has been quite promising because we also questioned some witnesses overseas,' he said. 'And the result has been very good.'