Nivell Rayda

Longtime Bribery Suspect Finally Detained by KPK

A former Transportation Ministry official who has long been declared a graft suspect has finally been detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Johan Budi confirmed that the commission, better known as the KPK, arrested Djoni Anwir Algamar, a former director of the Coast Guard, at about 10 p.m. on Tuesday and that he was being detained at the Cipinang penitentiary, East Jakarta.

Algamar was declared a graft suspect in February along with the ministry’s former head of procurement, Tansea Parlindungan Malau. While the two officials were not immediately detained, the KPK’s decision to name them as suspects prompted the ministry to dismiss them.

“[The arrest] was carried out to make the investigation process easier,” Johan said.

He added, however, that Malau still had not been arrested.

Before being placed under arrest, Algamar was grilled for more than nine hours at the KPK headquarters in the Kuningan area of South Jakarta over his role in a bribery scandal connected to the ministry’s procurement of patrol boats last year.

The case also implicated Star Reform Party (PBR) lawmaker Bulyan Royan, who was sentenced by the Anti-Corruption Court to six years in prison in March for accepting Rp 3.4 billion ($285,600) in bribes.

The court ruled that Bulyan had colluded with Algamar and Malau to extort money from nine companies bidding in the tender. The five firms that complied and paid up were privately declared the winners a month before the official tender was even opened to public bidding.

Dedy Suwarsono, the director of PT Bina Mina Karya Persada, one of the companies that paid the bribe, was sentenced to five years in prison by the same court last year.

Dedy told the court that he had given Rp 7.5 million and $2,000 to Malau, as well as Rp 50 million to Algamar.

In another case, the commission on Wednesday issued a subpoena for Anggoro Wijaya, a director of PT Masaro Radiokom, after the businessman, who was declared a graft suspect last week, failed to appear after twice being summoned.

“Under the third summons, we can forcibly detain him,” Johan said.

Anggoro in 2006 allegedly gave more than $8,000 to Yusuf Erwin Faishal from the National Awakening Party (PKB) and to Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Tamsil Linrung.

The money was supposedly in return for naming Anggoro’s company the supplier of a radio communications system to the Ministry of Forestry.

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