The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has imposed a travel ban on Andi Zulkarnaen Mallarangeng, aka Choel, who has been named a graft suspect, a KPK commissioner has said.

KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha confirmed on Thursday that a travel ban had been issued for Choel, the younger brother of former youth and sports minister Andi Alifian Mallarangeng, in the middle of December.

'€œYes, it'€™s true. We issued a travel ban for AZM [Andi Zulkarnaen Mallarangeng], in the middle of December,'€ he told journalists.

The KPK named Choel a graft suspect on Dec.20. He is suspected of committing graft in a sports center development, procurement and improvement project in Hambalang, West Java, between 2010 and 2012.

Priharsa said the travel ban would be valid for six months, during which time the KPK would investigate the suspect'€™s alleged involvement in the Hambalang graft case.

Earlier, KPK spokesperson Yuyuk Andriati said the commission's investigators had found two pieces of evidence during its investigation into alleged corruption in the Hambalang construction project.

'€œThis evidence is adequate to name AZM, a private party, a suspect," Yuyuk said as quoted by kompas.com at the KPK office in Jakarta earlier this week.

The KPK had yet to determine the amount of state losses allegedly caused by Choel'€™s case, she said.

Choel is accused of misusing his authority, enriching himself and others and of corporate enrichment in the Hambalang case.

The KPK leaders signed a sprindik (letter ordering the start of an investigation) on Choel on Dec.16. Prosecutors intend to charge Choel with violating Article 2 (1) or Article 3 of Law No.31/1999 in reference to Law No.21/2001 on corruption eradication and Article 55 (1) of the Criminal Code.

When he visited his brother Andi at the KPK detention center in May last year, Choel, the FOX Indonesia CEO, claimed he was ready to replace his brother in serving his prison sentence. The former minister was found guilty of bribery in the Hambalang case.

"When you are a younger brother, you must be ready to replace him," Choel told journalists during the visit at the KPK office in Jakarta on May 20, 2014.

In his testimony during Andi'€™s May 19, 2014 court hearing, Choel admitted that he had accepted US$550,000 from Deddy Kusdinar, the chief of the financial and internal affairs bureau of the Youth and Sports Ministry, who was also found guilty in the Hambalang case.

During the trial, Choel also admitted that he had accepted Rp 2 billion ($144,770.4) from Herman Prananto, an executive of PT Global Daya Manunggal, one of the companies subcontracted by state-owned construction firm PT Adhi Karya for the Hambalang project.

Choel later claimed, however, that he had handed over all the money he received to the KPK. Choel also expressed remorse for his actions. He said it was his fault that his brother had become a defendant in the Hambalang case. (ebf)

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