The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday arrested and detained Cahyadi Kumala, president director of publicly listed property developer PT Sentul City, for his alleged role in a bribery scheme, as well as for obstructing an ongoing investigation into a graft case in which he is implicated.

Cahyadi, who is also president commissioner of the property firm PT Bukit Jonggol Asri (BJA), which has a majority share of Sentul City, has been at the center of the KPK'€™s investigation after the antigraft body discovered he was the alleged mastermind in a bribery scheme surrounding the issuance of 2,754 hectares of protected land for BJA housing projects in Bogor, West Java.

Just three hours after making the arrest, the KPK on Tuesday afternoon declared Cahyadi a graft suspect and charged him with multiple crimes, including obstruction of justice.

'€œWe received information that the suspect tried to remove all crucial evidence and to influence witnesses [to give false testimonies],'€ KPK spokesman Johan Budi said during a press conference on Tuesday.

Cahyadi has been charged with violating Articles 5 and 13 of the 2001 Corruption Law for allegedly bribing Bogor Regent Rahmat Yasin to issue a recommendation for the issuance of a permit and Article 21 of the 1999 Corruption Law for obstructing the KPK investigation.

Violations of Articles 5 and 13 carry a maximum five-year prison sentence, while violations of Article 21 carry a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.

Rahmat is currently standing trial at the Bandung Corruption Court for allegedly accepting Rp 4.5 billion (US$369.230) in bribes from Cahyadi through a middleman, Yohan Yap, who was arrested earlier and sentenced to one year and six months in prison.

The KPK arrested Rahmat in May while he was accepting Rp 1.5 billion in bribes from Yohan.

Johan did not give details regarding what evidence Cahyadi was attempting to hide.

Johan added that Cahyadi was arrested along with five others at a restaurant in the Sentul City housing complex in Sentul, West Java.

'€œThe five people included a driver and his friends,'€ Johan said.

After six hours of questioning, KPK investigators took him to the detention center located on the first floor of KPK headquarters in South Jakarta.

Johan said that detention was meant to prevent Cahyadi from fleeing the country, adding that the five others arrested with him were released after KPK investigators found no evidence of their involvement in the bribery case.

'€œSomeone is detained to ensure he cannot influence other witnesses or flee the country,'€ Johan added.

The KPK has also imposed a travel ban on Cahyadi'€™s son, Daniel Otto Kumala, raising speculation that Daniel could soon be named suspect in the case.

The protected forest where PT BJA planned to build luxury houses is spread among three regencies: Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur.

In order to obtain a permit to alter an area'€™s protected forest status, a company must first acquire a recommendation from the regent of the area where the protected forest is located. After receiving the recommendation letter from the regent, the company submits proposal to the Forestry Ministry along with the regent'€™s approval.

However, before issuing a recommendation to the company, the respective regent is supposed to gain approval from the local representatives office.

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