TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Police`s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) chief, Insp. Gen. Ari Dono Sukmanto, denied the allegations made by a Malaysian media that his investigators took 1 million ringgit from the Equanimity luxury cruiser. The media reported that Bareskrim investigators took the cash when searching the cruiser at Bali's Benoa Port on Feb. 28.

"What the media did was news framing," Ari said on Wednesday, quoting the media's article that said 'Penyiasat Indonesia menjumpai 1 billion ringgit tersimpan rapi dalam kapal Jo Lo. Siap berbalut kertas hadiah. Untuk siapa ya Pak?'.

Read: Indonesian Police Questions Luxury Yacht Crew in 1MBD Probe

Ari asserted that his investigators worked according to procedures during the search, and said that the entire time they were accompanied by the ship's crew and ship-owner's lawyer. He also said that no money was found during the search. Investigators only found documents.

Ari said he doubts the media's credibility, as it made the report based on non-liable sources; using a screen-capture of a photo posted to Facebook. The photo showed money wrapped in a big plastic bag.

"To me, that's a lowly media; a hoax spreader," he said.

The Bareskrim investigators and the FBI had searched the Rp3.4-trillion luxury cruiser in Bali on February 28. The boat was the US Departement of Justice's target of operation, for the multi-billion dollar corruption case implicating 1Malaysia Development Berhad or 1MDB.

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