T

he Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) investigation into massive irregularities plaguing reclamation projects in Jakarta worth Rp 150 trillion (US$11.4 billion) has implicated powerful property tycoon Sugianto “Aguan” Kusuma, with the commission slapping a travel ban on the patron of politically wired tycoon Tomy Winata of the Artha Graha Group on Sunday.

Aguan’s company, property developer Agung Sedayu Group, acquired a quarter of the controversial mega projects in North Jakarta.

The KPK’s decision to slap a travel ban is usually followed by naming an individual a suspect in a graft case, a move only made after investigators handling a case have collected sufficient evidence.

The decision to slap a travel ban on Aguan, who runs Agung Sedayu, which owns luxury housing community Pantai Indah Kapuk and Taman Anggrek Residences, came two days after the KPK declared Ariesman Widjaya, president director of publicly listed property developer PT Agung Podomoro Land, a suspect in a bribery case.

Agung Podomoro Land is among a number of companies that have been given reclamation rights over the North Jakarta coast.

Ariesman, an acquaintance of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahja Purnama, has been accused of bribing Jakarta councillors in an effort to expedite the approval of bylaws required for zoning in the reclamation area.

KPK spokesperson Yuyuk Indriati confirmed the issuance of the travel ban for Aguan, saying the property magnate would be questioned in the near future.

Yuyuk said the KPK had issued the travel ban after preliminary findings in its investigation into Ariesman confirmed that Agung Sedayu was one of several companies that had gained the rights to handle the reclamation of 17 planned man-made islets off the north coast of Jakarta.

The spokesperson told The Jakarta Post that KPK investigators would question Aguan and a number witnesses to determine whether bribery was involved in the granting of permits to Agung Sedayu.

Yuyuk said that KPK investigators would begin questioning witnesses on Monday.

Immigration office spokesperson Heru Santoso confirmed that his side had issued a travel ban on Aguan that would bar him from traveling oversees for the next six months.

“Yes, we received the request for a travel ban on April 1,” Heru said.

Meanwhile, KPK commissioner Saut Sutimorang said that aside from targeting property tycoons, KPK investigators were working to make a breakthrough by bringing corruption charges against companies in the case, a move that he said could create a deterrent effect for graft-prone corporations.

“That’s our target. We need him [Aguan] to help the KPK uncover the truth about the reclamation case. The KPK will keep working to scrutinize [reclamation projects] in many places [across the country] ,” Saut told the Post over the weekend.

Saut said he was aware that the KPK’s investigation into reclamation in Jakarta could implicate many powerful individuals, and that the KPK would work hard to uncover more truths in the case. “Good intentions will always win,” Saut said.

Agung Sedayu spokesperson Neti did not respond to questions from the Post on Sunday night.

With a combined total of 5,155 hectares of new land, about half the area of Bogor municipality, the project for 17 man-made islets is the biggest reclamation in the history of Jakarta, and until now the most controversial.

Initiated during the New Order regime in 1995, the plan had been previously aborted, including during the peak of the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

Residents and civil society groups have challenged the project by bringing the case to the court for the past 20 years.

In 2010, then Jakarta governor Fauzi Bowo issued the first construction permit for PT Kapuk Naga Indah (KNI), a subsidiary of Agung Sedayu, to build Islet D, which has been marketed as Golf Island, an extension of gated community Pantai Indah Kapuk connected to the city by a 300-meter bridge.

Golf Island is to become a residential area for upper-income residents, at least if property prices are any indication. According to a price list obtained by the Post in October last year, a 90 square-meter house on a 128-sq m plot of land on Golf Island is tagged at Rp 3.77 billion, which is at about Rp 30 million per sq m.

This is not the first time for the KPK to scrutinize the involvement of property tycoons in a bribery investigation.

On Sept. 30, 2014, the KPK arrested publicly listed property developer PT Sentul City president director Cahyadi Kumala for allegedly masterminding a bribery scheme to pay off then Bogor regent Rahmat Yasin, who has since been tried and convicted, to help a subsidiary of Sentul City obtain a permit to build luxury housing on 2,754 ha of protected land in Bogor, West Java. Cahyadi got five years in the case.
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