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Probes into separate graft cases at the Ministry of Transportation and at state energy company PT Pertamina have expanded overseas, with investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission set to fly to Japan and Britain.

Bibit Samad Riyanto, deputy chairman of the commission, also known as the KPK, said a team of investigators would be sent to Japan next month to trace a multimillion-dollar logistics markup at the Ministry of Transportation in 2006.

“The team is coordinating with authorities in Japan to collect further evidence and documents,” Bibit said.

On Nov. 30, 2006, the Japanese government donated 60 train carriages, previously used in the Tokyo subway system, to the Indonesian government, which agreed to cover the shipment costs.

However, that simple task was fraught with allegations of embezzlement, and the KPK has since charged the former director general of railways, Sumino Eko, with marking up the shipping costs by as much 570 million yen ($6 million).

Witnesses who have testified in the case include officials from state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia and a Japanese national identified only as Hideyoki, who was appointed by his government to oversee the shipment.

In a separate case, the KPK is deploying a team to meet with Britain’s Serious Fraud Office over allegations of bribery at Pertamina.

Last month, chemical company Innospec Ltd. pleaded guilty at the Southwark Crown Court to bribing former senior Pertamina executives and a former Ministry of Energy official to ensure that its fuel additive tetraethyl lead was chosen for purchase over unleaded alternatives.

According to court documents, between 2002 and 2006, Innospec paid bribes to postpone a 1999 Indonesian regulation banning the use of TEL. The regulation did not take effect until 2006.

“We’ll exchange information with the SFO and see what they’ve gathered so far,” Bibit said. “The case is still in the investigation stage. Right now our goal is to acquire as much information as we can on it.”

Previously, KPK spokesman Johan Budi said six people linked to the Innospec case had been banned from traveling abroad.

The list includes Rahmat Sudibyo, director general of oil and gas at the Ministry of Energy in 2001-02 and head of upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas from 2002-04; Suroso Atmomartoyo, Pertamina’s director of refining from 2004-08; and Mistiko Saleh, Pertamina’s vice president from 2004-06.

The immigration office also issued bans on two officials from Innospec’s local agent, PT Soegih Interjaya — president director Willy Sebastian and operational director Muhammad Syakir — while a third party identified as Herwanto Wibowo, whose connection to the case remains unclear, was also banned. Soegih Inter­jaya denies bribing oil and gas officials, saying it had “no ability to influence government officials to prolong the use of leaded fuel in the country.”

Studies show even low exposure to TEL may cause lead poisoning. Children are particularly vulnerable to lead, which can cause reduced IQ or antisocial behavior.

TEL was banned by the United States in 1986, and the European Union stopped use of leaded gasoline as of Jan. 1, 2000.

Innospec Inc., the holding company of Innospec Ltd., has also pleaded guilty in Washington to bribing officials in Iraq, defrauding the United Nations and violating the US trade embargo against Cuba.