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Former Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra says he is “a victim of political rivalries” and attempts by the government to divert public attention from the Bank Century saga after being named a suspect in a major corruption scandal in his former office, 20 months after the probe began.

“I suspect that my case is politically motivated, which is why it took so long before the AGO finally turned to me,” Yusril, who was dropped from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s cabinet in May 2007, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.

“My being named a suspect came after an ad hoc committee [at the House of Representatives] meddled in the case. On the other hand, the Bank Century scandal that also came to the House’s attention has yielded no suspects among government officials.”

Yusril, who headed the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights from 1999 to 2001, was implicated in embezzling from an Internet service run by the ministry that facilitated the registration of private companies’s business permits with the government.

The Attorney General’s Office began an inquiry into the case after finding that 90 percent of revenue generated from the Web site went to private company PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika, which had been appointed by the ministry to run the service. The scheme between 2001 and 2008 cost the state at least Rp 410 billion ($45.1 million), according to the AGO.

“State auditors from the BPK [the Supreme Audit Agency] and the BPKP [the Finance and Development Controller] found no state losses from the online registration service, so how can prosecutors come out with that loss estimate?” said Yusril. “Now look into the Bank Century case. The country lost Rp 6.7 trillion because of the reckless bailout, but no [state officials] were implicated.

“To allay the political rivalries over the Bank Century scandal, the government begins to invent cases to divert public attention. So here I am, a suspect after a very long investigation,” said Yusril, the founder of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), which has positioned itself as an opponent of the Yudhoyono government since his ouster from the cabinet.

Apart from Yusril, the AGO on Friday named tycoon Hartono Tanoesoedibjo, who founded Sarana mainly for the service, as a new suspect.

Further investigation by prosecutors found that the remaining 10 percent of the Web site’s revenue was split between ministry officials and the ministry’s cooperative based on an internal decree, but Yusril denied such a decree had ever existed.

“The decree was said to having been issued during the tenure of Baharuddin Lopa [minister from February to June 2001], but he has since passed away,” he said. “A copy of the document was shown at a court hearing but prosecutors failed to show the genuine decree, so I doubt its authenticity.”

Antigraft activists welcomed the AGO’s move but cautioned against any of the lack of seriousness prosecutors normally showed when dealing with high-profile suspects.

“Finally, prosecutors bow to pressure to step up their moves in the case and net the big fish,” said Danang Widoyoko, chairman of nongovernmental group Indonesia Corruption Watch.

“Over the past 20 months, they have limited their coverage to directors general in the ministry and the former director of Sarana,” Danang told the Globe.

Two former directors general, Romli Atmasasmita and Syamsuddin Manan Sinaga, and former Sarana director Yohanes Waworuntu have been handed jail terms in the case.

Another official, Zulkarnaen Yunus, is currently standing trial, while a fifth suspect, former ministry cooperatives head Ali Amran Jannah, is deemed unfit for trial because of his poor health.

“While the AGO is moving to a higher level in the case, albeit very late, we need to cautiously continue monitoring the legal proceedings,” Danang said.