Amid what critics see as a maneuver to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the anticorruption body on Tuesday named the former president director of now-defunct Pertamina Energy Trading Ltd (Petral) a suspect of corruption.

Bambang Irianto allegedly received at least US$2.9 million in bribes when he was the managing director of Pertamina Energy Services Pte Ltd (PES) from 2009 to 2013.

The alleged bribes were reportedly paid between 2010 and 2013 through a bank account of a company he established, identified as SIAM.

“BTO [Bambang] is suspected of receiving $2.9 million from [Singapore-based] Kernel Oil in exchange for giving the company preferential treatment during the tender for the shipment of crude oil to be purchased by PES or Pertamina,” KPK deputy chairman Laode M. Syarif told a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Laode said the case had taken a long time to process, around four years from the investigation to identifying the suspect, because the bribes had been transferred to Bambang’s account through numerous countries.

“To avoid being suspected of bribing […] in crude oil purchases, Bambang instructed both Pertamina and PES to purchase oil from a Dubai-based oil company called Emirates National Oil Company [ENOC]. On Paper, it looked like Pertamina and PES purchased oil from ENOC. [In reality], the oil supplies came from Kernel Oil, which then received payments that were addressed to ENOC,” he said.

Laode added that KPK investigators had questioned 53 witnesses and raided five houses and an office building as part of their investigation of the case.

Popular

Indonesia not affected by Southeast Asia-wide heat wave: BMKG

Residents fear for safety as Mount Ruang volcano erupts

In defense of Indonesian democracy