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Golkar Party lawmaker Melchias Markus Mekeng is facing a possible investigation after he was identified by graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin as the person behind a bribery scandal surrounding the athletes’ village for the SEA Games.

A Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician, Aboe Bakar Al Habsyi, has demanded that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) look into Melchias’s bank accounts to determine if he received money from the scandal.

Nazaruddin, the former treasurer of the ruling Democratic Party, accused Melchias last week of being the “big boss” mentioned in SMS messages between the alleged broker in the case, Mindo Rosalina Manulang, who worked for Nazaruddin, and another Democrat, Angelina Sondakh.

Melchias, according to Nazaruddin, played a key role in rigging the bidding process for the athletes’ village in Palembang, South Sumatra.

“This could be the major breakthrough needed to resolve [the bid-rigging] case. [Tracking the transactions] should be easy enough for the PPATK,” said Aboe Bakar, a member of the House legal affairs commission.

Although Nazaruddin has made numerous allegations against other politicians as well as members of the KPK, Aboe Bakar said it should not stop the antigraft body from taking this latest claim seriously.

Melchias has denied the allegation. He said he did not join the House Budget Committee until July 2010, which was after the body had approved the funding for the athletes’ village.

“I was not involved. The allocation for the athletes’ village was deliberated as part of the 2011 budget revision, before I had joined the House’s Budget Committee, either as a member or chairman,” he said in a three-page statement.

“To help the legal process proceed clearly, I ask Nazaruddin and anyone else who testifies in court to clearly specify the names of the people involved in the case, including the chairman of the House’s Budget Committee, so it won’t slander others.”

Democratic Party lawmaker Achsanul Qosasi said Nazaruddin should confirm that the “big boss” he was referring to was in fact Melchias, and explain his exact role in the case.

“At the House [lawmakers] call each other ‘big boss,’ and sometimes even normal members are called that when we are in a discussion,” he said. “It is unfortunate that there is all this speculation [because of Nazaruddin’s remarks]. He needs to explain this.”

Melchias said House Commission X, which oversees sports, deliberated the budget for the athletes’ village. The discussion of the construction project also involved the Sports Ministry, he said.

On Jan. 20, 2010, he said, both House Commission X and the central government agreed to form a working committee for the SEA Games and the Para Games in 2011. The working committee, he said, was led by Mahyuddin, a Democrat and chairman of House Commission X.

Commission X members of the working committee included deputy chairmen Rully Chairul Azwar of the Golkar Party, Heri Akhmadi of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Abdul Hakam Naja of the National Mandate Party (PAN). The committee included lawmakers from every party and faction in the House.