KPK to Probe Religious Affairs Minister upon Romy Graft Case

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) would soon investigate Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin in light of the alleged graft case at his ministry. Lukman would be grilled as a witness in the case that implicating former head of the United Development Party (PPP), Romahurmuziy or Romy.

“[Minister Lukman] will surely be asked for clarification,” said KPK deputy head Laode M. Syarif in Jakarta, Tuesday, March 19.

Read: KPK Seizes Hundreds of Millions of Cash from Minister's Office

Syarif explained that Lukman would be asked about the funds seized by the KPK at the minister’s office. The KPK investigators searched a number of offices at the Ministry of Religious Affairs that belong to the minister, the ministry’s secretary general M Nur Kholis Setiawan and the administrative bureau head on Monday, March 18.

From the searching, the anti-graft body seized cash amounted to some one hundred million in rupiah and dollar. However, Syarif stopped short of detailing where the money was from. “I have not known about it yet, but that will be a subject to be clarified.”

The KPK has named three suspects in the case; Romahurmuziy as the bribe recipient and the head of the Religious Affairs Ministry's East Java office, Haris Hasanudin, and the head of the Religious Affairs Ministry's Gresik office, Muhammad Muafaq Wirahadi, as the bribers.

M ROSSENO AJI