The BTS construction project is headed by the Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI), an agency under the auspices of Johnny’s ministry. The graft case is believed to have cost the state Rp 1 trillion (US$64 million).

Johnny said that he had given truthful accounts of what he knew regarding the alleged botched procurement of the BTS on Wednesday during six hours of questioning by a team of investigators, led by the office of the junior attorney general for special crimes (Jampidsus). This was the second time Johnny had showed up for questioning at the AGO headquarters since last month. His status remains as a witness in the case.

“Today, I once again answered the AGO’s summons to provide statements regarding the BTS project at the ministry,” he told the press at the AGO, as quoted from a YouTube video.

"The statements [I] gave [to investigators] are about what I, as a witness, know and I think they are true. I have [made the statements] responsibly," the NasDem Party politician added, without providing further information on what the investigators asked him.

Besides Johnny, five other witnesses were interrogated by investigators on Wednesday, two of them are Bakti employees, according to AGO spokesman Ketut Sumedana in a press release received by The Jakarta Post.

Investigators are planning to summon Johnny’s brother Gregorius Alex Plate for a third round of questioning after they found out that he had received Rp 500 million (US$32,000) in funds thought to be connected to the corruption case from Johnny's ministry. Gregorius has reportedly returned the money.

“[We will investigate] if there was an instruction from his older brother [Johnny for the funds to be transferred to Gregorious] or anything similar. We will see how this develops,” Ketut said, as quoted by kompas.id.

The BTS procurement project began in 2020 after Plate was installed as minister in October 2019. By 2023, the ministry was supposed to have erected some 8,000 4G BTS towers in underdeveloped, frontier and outermost (3T) regions. But, in the first development phase, which had a budget of Rp 10 trillion, the ministry only achieved half of its target of 4,200 BTS towers by 2021. The project’s major delays raised suspicions of graft.

As of last month, the investigation team had named five people as suspects after questioning some 60 people about the procurement process.

The suspects are BAKTI president director Anang Achmad Latif, PT Mora Telematika Indonesia president director Galumbang Menak Simanjuntak, University of Indonesia (UI) human development expert Yohan Suryanto, PT Huawei Investment account director Mukti Ali and PT Solitech Media Sinergy commissioner Irwan Hermawan.

The first three suspects, Anang, Galumbang and Yohan, were arrested in January. Anang is accused of issuing rules crafted to allow specific bidders to win the BTS procurement auction at a marked-up price, Galumbang of aiding Anang in drafting the scheme and Yohan of creating fake research to support Anang in marking up the price.

Johnny's summons has sparked speculation over his fate in the government, especially since NasDem endorsed popular opposition figurehead Anies Baswedan for the presidency in 2024.

The move has complicated the party’s relationship with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the leading party in the ruling coalition, which has called for the removal of NasDem ministers from the Cabinet.

When asked by reporters to comment on Johnny’s questioning, Jokowi said on Wednesday that he would “respect the legal process no matter who it concerned.”

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