ower plant firm MAXpower, controlled by British financial company Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE), has instructed two law firms to conduct an internal audit in response to alleged bribery of Indonesian officials from 2012 to 2014.
SCPE expects the audit will be completed quickly. To back up the process, retired army general Endriartono Sutarto and former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioner Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas have been hired as commissioners.
"Yes, Pak Endriartono and I have been appointed as MAXpower Indonesia commissioners to boost the investigation into alleged wrongdoings and to improve corporate governance," Erry told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Thursday.
Based on a report by the company in 2014, US$750,000 had been inappropriately disbursed since 2012. MAXpower employees are alleged to have bribed government officials to win contracts.
As the bank is listed in a US stock market, it had to report the case to the US Department of Justice in line with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which prohibits all US companies from making illegal payments to government officials.
Founded in 2003, MAXpower provides small and medium-sized gas power stations ranging in output from 5 megawatts (MW) to 30 MW. They have projects in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua. In 2012, SCPE increased its ownership of the company to 50 percent through $60 million cash injections. (ags)
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