W

itness: Lippo Group CEO James Riady arrives at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) office in Jakarta on Tuesday. James was questioned in connection with the bribery case concerning the Meikarta mega development project in Bekasi, West Java.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

Lippo Group CEO and deputy chairman James Riady has denied playing any role in a bribery case surrounding the Meikarta mega development project in Bekasi regency, West Java.

The tycoon made the statement following a nine-hour questioning session at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) office on Tuesday.

“I personally don’t know anything about the [alleged] bribery, and I wasn’t involved in the case,” James told reporters after the questioning.

He said investigators asked 59 questions regarding his knowledge of the alleged bribery, which centers on the permit issuance process for Lippo’s flagship project, Meikarta.

The KPK has named nine individuals, including Bekasi Regent Neneng Hasanah Yasin and Lippo operational director Billy Sindoro, as suspects in the case. Other Bekasi officials and Lippo Group consultants and employees have also been named suspects.

The antigraft body has accused Billy of instructing his subordinates to promise a “commitment fee” of Rp 13 billion (US$853,884) to Neneng. The KPK suspects a portion of the fee, amounting to around Rp 7 billion, was accepted by the regent.

James was implicated in the case after KPK investigators raided his house in Karawaci, Tangerang, Banten, in an effort to find evidence on Oct. 18. The KPK, however, later stated that investigators did not find any evidence relevant to the case during the search.

Suspicions remained, however, after Neneng told journalists she had a meeting with the Lippo CEO and when asked whether they talked about Meikarta, simply nodded.

James confirmed the meeting, saying he had one meeting with Neneng at the end of 2017. He said, however, that the meeting had nothing to do with the Meikarta project, its permits or other matters.

“At that time, when I was at Lippo Cikarang, I heard that the regent had just given birth to a baby. I came to her house to congratulate her on her newborn. It was my first meeting with her,” James said.

“There was no talk about permits, business or anything else with her. I have told this to the KPK investigators,” he added.

KPK deputy chairwoman Basaria Panjaitan said investigators questioned James to discover his level of knowledge regarding the alleged bribery as well as his authority in the company.

“Investigators want to know about his level of authority and its limits. For example, [we’d like to find out] whether he had to be informed whenever the company needed to spend billions of rupiah, or whether authority could be delegated to a director of the company,” Basaria said.

She added that graft busters would be able to ascertain if James had intervened or played a role in the alleged bribery from the questioning.

According to the KPK, the alleged bribery was tied to issuance of various permits necessary for the first phase of the project, which covered a total area of 84.6 hectares. The company needed to secure several permits and documents, including an environmental impact analysis (Amdal), from a number of agencies owing to the scale and complexity of the project.

The market responded negatively to news of the questioning, with PT Lippo Karawaci’s shares falling 2.78 percent, or 8 points, to Rp 280 per share at 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday.

Since trading opened on Tuesday morning, Lippo Karawaci’s shares have hovered between Rp 278 and Rp 292.

According to RTI Infocom, Lippo Karawaci’s shares had fallen by 6.04 percent within the past week, and had fallen 19.55 percent or 64 points since early October.

CSA Research stock market analyst Reza Priyambada said as quoted by tempo.co that the most recent price drop was a continuation of previous price drops after a Lippo executive and other employees were named suspects by the KPK in the Meikarta case.