Original Article: “The Miranda Project

There was a heated debate at the Corruption Eradication Commission executive meeting in July 2008. The nature of the discussion was whether or not to open a 2004 central bank bribery case and supposedly a very strong opponent was Antasari Azhar, a source at the commission said.

“It’s a difficult case, too difficult,” the source quoted the suspended KPK chief as saying at the meeting. “We’re dealing with a case that’s already four years old, he said. And with only twenty minutes into the meeting, the chief quickly called the meeting over.”

A week prior to the meeting, now former Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Agus Condro Prayitno told KPK investigators that he had received Rp 500 million in traveler’s checks shortly after he voted for a senior economist Miranda Goeltom to Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor post.

With almost a year since Agus’ confession, the commission declared four current and former lawmakers as suspects in the case earlier this month after, the source described “The single biggest obstacle to opening the case has been removed.” The source was referring to Antasari.

The four suspects are current lawmakers Dudhie Makmun Murod from PDI-P, Endin Soefihara from United Development Party (PPP) as well as former lawmakers Udju Djuhaeri from the military and police faction and Hamka Yandhu from Golkar Party.

A year ago, Antasari is chief of the most respected and feared institution in the country. He was suspended last month after the police arrested him for allegedly masterminding the murder of state firm director Nasrudin Zulkarnaen on March 14.

The source however said he did not know why Antasari had tried to halt the case. However there are theories that Antasari was pressured by the party that also supported his bid for KPK chief in 2007.

Adnan Topan Husodo, coordinator for political affairs at the country’s most prominent antigraft group, the Indonesian Corruption Watch also believed that Antasari had deliberately halted the case.

“For the past year, the KPK has not summoned any more new witnesses and gathered no new evidence. Suffice to say, the KPK relied on old evidence gathered during that time,” Adnan said. “So why is the case opened just now? At the time, there must have been some reluctance to open the case. So the fact that the case is opened after Antasari is arrested is no coincidence.”

Two months since Agus’ confession, the commission requested the country’s anti-money laundering agency, the Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) to trace the traveler’s checks Agus had received, supposedly without Antasari’s consent.

The agency found 480 checks each worth Rp50 million which were cashed by 102 people connected to all 41 lawmakers who voted for Miranda. Nine of the lawmakers were reported to have cashed the checks themselves, including the four suspects.

Even after PPATK findings, the KPK still did not declare anyone as a suspect or gill more witnesses. Antasari then repeatedly dodged reporters’ questions by saying the PPATK findings could not be used as evidence. To this day, only six witnesses had testified at the KPK headquarters which included Agus Condro. The four suspects had not been brought for questioning in the case.

The KPK source said that after the PPATK report, Antasari was supposedly outraged at three specific KPK officials: Bambang Widaryatmo, former KPK director of investigation, former senior investigator Sri Adiningsih and Akhmad Wiyagus, former director of public complaints.

“He didn’t show (his outrage) to them. He just had them transferred away from the KPK,” the source said. Antasari supposedly arranged to have the three withdrawn back to the police in November.

Akhmad was named chief of a district police in Sumedang, West Java, Bambang became chief of research and development at the National Police while Sri later became a senior investigator at the National police. “That’s when I knew that something was wrong,” the source said.

However, Bambang only laughed when asked to confirm the truth to the allegation. “There’s no such thing,” he told the Jakarta Globe. “The timing of my transfer is merely a coincidence. The case was still in a preliminary probing stage. So I haven’t had my hands on the case for investigation yet. So how can my transfer had anything to do with Agus Condro’s case?”

Several of Bambang’s friends at the National Police however, confirmed that the Brigadier General had a bitter relationship with the KPK since the case and showed his disappointment at the commission when he first returned to the police.

Bambang was in charge of another central bank bribery case linked to the amendment of the central bank law in 2003. Agus was testifying at the 2003 case when he made the confession.

The KPK denied that Antasari had tried to halt the case but refused to disclose if there was indeed new evidence in the case or if it was relying on old evidence obtained last year for reasons of ongoing investigation.

“All we can say is there is strong evidence implicating the four suspects. We are now focusing on suspects with the strongest pieces of evidence, and hopefully it will shed new light on the case,” KPK deputy Muhammad Jasin said.

Nunun Nurbaetie Daradjatun’s name also came to the spotlight, after she was linked to a bribery case connected to Miranda Goeltom’s appointment to the central bank senior deputy governor post in 2004.

Since declaring four current and former lawmakers as suspects in the case, the KPK said that they suspect Nunun to be the courier of 480 traveler’s checks, each worth Rp 50 million to members of the House of Representatives commission IX, which at the time oversees financial affairs.

Little is known about the 58 year-old businesswoman, aside the fact that she is married to Adang Daradjatun, former National Police deputy and Jakarta gubernatorial candidate in 2007, let alone why she had allegedly participated in the scandal.

Adang is now an elected House member from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s campaign manager for Jakarta for the July 8 presidential poll.

The country’s anti-money laundering agency, the Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) discovered that the checks were supposedly purchased by PT First Mujur Plantation and PT Bank Artha Graha International, two associated companies of Artha Graha group owned by tycoon Tommy Winata,. The checks however were issued by Bank International Indonesia.

The KPK had requested the immigration authorities to ban Bank Artha Graha’s President Director, Andy Kasih; First Mujur’s President Director, Hidayat Lukman and his Chief Financial Officer, Budi Santoso from traveling abroad. The ban ends in September this year.

Nunun has no known business connected to the banking and financial sector or any ties to Artha Graha. However, the KPK believed that she had picked up the checks and have them delivered to the four suspects, who later distributed them to members of their respective factions at the House commission IX.

A source at the House said that she was only in charge of distributing some of the checks to all four members of the military and police faction at commission IX while the remainder went to senior politicians of the other three factions that supported Miranda’s bid: the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP).

Nunun was also tasked with lobbying the four members of the military and police faction to vote for Miranda by using her husband’s connection, the source said.

“Nunun was the broker for the military and police faction. I don’t know who the other brokers are, but I do know it’s not Dudhie (Makmun Murod, PDI-P), Hamka (Yandhu, Golkar) and Endin (Soefihara, PPP),” the source said referring to the four KPK suspects.

Adnan said that he also did not believe that the four suspects were in charge of distributing the checks to other members of their respective faction, as alleged by the KPK.

“According to the PPATK report, the four cashed the checks themselves while others rely on their relatives and friends. So for the KPK to say that they were the brokers in this case is a bit premature,” he said.

Nunun’s lawyer, Partahi Sihombing told reporters recently that his client was not involved. “My client is shocked,” the lawyer said. “She absolutely had no knowledge about the case, let alone participated in the bribery scheme.”

Agus Condro also said that the one distributing the checks to members of his party was not Dhudie. “Dhudie is just a pawn, like me,” Agus said, “The one issuing the order is the head of the faction at the House (Tjahjo Kumolo), the faction’s secretary (Panda Nababan) and PDI-P’s vice secretary general (Pramono Anung).”

Agus said he never met Nunun or see her at the House before. “For lobbying PDI-P members, it’s the job of these three. We were ordered to vote for Miranda,” he said.

Pramono said that his party did not accept any bribe money but acknowledged that it was supporting Goeltom’s bid.

“She was the strongest candidate at the time, not just in our view but the majority of the commission (IX. Our support was based on her excellent track record,” he said.

“Before the voting, we explain to our members that PDI-P is supporting Miranda. Maybe a particular member (Agus Condro) misinterpret that by saying it was an instruction. Certainly there was no pressure and certainly there was no promise of any money.”

Boyamin Saiman, chairman of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI), which had twice filed a motion for the South Jakarta District Court to order the KPK to expedite the case said that he suspects there are more money being channeled.

“This is only the traveler’s checks. There are also other methods of payment which worth another Rp 16 billion, so the total is around Rp 40 billion,” Boyamin said. “It’s impossible that the party’s elite didn’t get anything, especially in a very important selection process like for the central bank executive’s post.

“Party members and the faction leaders wouldn’t dare touching the illicit money without the consent of their parties’ elite.”