The antigraft body named on Wednesday five suspects in the case, including Basarnas head Air Vice Marshal Henri Alfiandi and the agency’s administrative coordinator, Lt. Col. Afri Budi Cahyanto. Investigators have accused Henri of accepting kickbacks pertaining to procurement in the rescue agency between 2021 and 2023 totaling Rp 88.3 billion (US$5.9 million).

The other three suspects are businesspeople, namely Marilya, the president director of printing company PT Intertekno Grafika Sejati; Mulsunadi Gunawan, the executive commissioner of printing company PT Multi Grafika Cipta Sejati and spare-parts supply company PT Kindah Abadi Utama president director Roni Aidil.

KPK deputy chairman Alexander Marwata said Henri allegedly received kickbacks of 10 percent from the businesspeople in exchange for awarding their companies tenders in several Basarnas procurement projects.

Among the projects were the procurement of wall-penetrating sensors to detect victims trapped under debris, the contract for which was valued at Rp 9.9 billion, and the Rp 89.9-billion multi-year purchase of a remote-operated vehicle (ROV).

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The three businesspeople allegedly approached Henri and Afri to offer the kickbacks. “We suspect that [Henri] was the one who decided how much the kickbacks should be,” Alexander said during a press briefing on Wednesday at the KPK headquarters.

Investigators previously detained 11 people on Wednesday, including Afri and Marilya. Both suspects allegedly made an appointment to meet in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, so Marilya could hand over the illicit money to the Basarnas head through Afri. KPK officers seized nearly Rp 1 billion in cash from Afri’s car during the arrest, Alexander said.

Henri and Afri, both active military officers, were detained by military police. Meanwhile, KPK investigators held Marilya and Roni at the commission’s headquarters in South Jakarta. Mulsunadi is currently still at large.

The alleged Basarnas corruption is not the first case implicating active military members.

In 2017, military police named five Air Force officers, including former Air Force chief of staff Marshal Agus Supriatna, in a graft case related to the procurement of an AW 101 helicopter from Italian-British company AgustaWestland.

They were suspected of embezzlement for resuming the procurement project despite President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s instruction to cancel the purchase. The case reportedly caused Rp 224 billion in state losses.

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The KPK will continue the investigation of the civilian suspects in the Basarnas case, while the military police will handle the probe into Henri and Afri. Alexander said the KPK would meet with TNI commander Adm. Yudo Margono to discuss the establishment of a joint team between the antigraft body and the military police.

The joint team, Alexander added, would aim to prevent disparities in the KPK and military investigations. “The last thing we want in this investigation is disparities in investigation,” the KPK deputy chairman said.

TNI spokesperson Rear Adm. Julius Widjojono told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the military chief was committed to resolving any graft case involving its personnel.

Zaenur Rohman, a researcher at the Gadjah Mada University Center for Anti Corruption Studies (Pukat UGM), said the chance of a corruption case involving military officers being solved would increase if there was cooperation between investigators from the KPK and the military.

Separate investigations, as happened with the AW 101 case, would only lead nowhere, Zaenur said. “Without a joint team, it’s difficult to unfold the case clearly.” (kuk)

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