KPK Denies Mahfud MD's Allegation of Unsolved Cases

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Laode M. Syarif said that his side had handled two corruption cases concerned by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The cases were the corruption in the purchase of Agusta Westland AW101 helicopters and in Pertamina Energy Trading Limited or Petral.

“There are two cases concerned by President and several parties so far, and we had handled it,” Syarif in a written statement, Tuesday, November 12.

Syarif said that in the helicopter procurement graft, the anti-graft body had processed one suspect, while a suspect from the military was probed by the Air Force Police. When the case brought up in 2016, the TNI commander Gatot Nurmantyo said that the investigation was commenced immediately since the President put special concern on the case.

As for the Petral case, former CEO of the now-defunct Petral Bambang Irianto was named a suspect. The case required a long time considering many evidence existed abroad.

Jokowi at the beginning of his first administration established the Team for Oil and Gas Reform and disbanded Petral. “The case investigation was still afoot by KPK,” Syarif added.

Syarif exposed the two cases in response to the remark by Coordinating Minister of Politics, Legal, Security Affairs Mahfud MD on Monday, November 11, that President Jokowi had reported two corruption cases to KPK yet they remained unsolved. He stopped short of elaborating on the alleged corruption cases which he classified as major issues.

M ROSSENO AJI