E - KTP Key Witness Johannes Marliem: I Have Risked My Life
15 August 2017 08:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - This is an exclusive interview a few weeks before the key witness of the e-KTP graft case died. Johannes Marliem, Director of Biomorf Lone LLC in the United States, claimed that the Indonesian Government owed his company Rp540 billion related to the electronic identity card (e-KTP) project. “I need those debts to be settled,” he wrote during a series of communications with Tempo throughout April until early August.
Read: KPK: Death of Witness will Not Disturb E-KTP Investigation
The key witness to the scandalous corruption case died in Los Angeles, California, last week on Thursday. The cause of his death is still unclear on whether he committed suicide or was shot by authorities that raided his residence. In an unrelated incident, his house in West Hollywood was also robbed one week before his death.
The 32-year-old man once said that he was deeply concerned since Indonesian officials have yet paid the bills. Especially since the consortium that was responsible for the e-KTP project have yet to pay-off its Rp48 billion bill. “I was accused of running-off with the money that hasn’t even been paid to me,” said Johannes Marliem during the interview.
Marliem established Biomorf Lone Indonesia back in 2012, even though he wasn’t a Member of the winning tender consortium for the mega project worth Rp5.9 trillion.
“I have my patience, I put my life at risk. I am not afraid of anyone anymore,” he said. “I need the Indonesian government to pay-off its debts to Biomorf. I was slandered by the consortium and by Setya Novanto (House Speaker and suspect of this case). The ID cards were a success, I gave my services but I wasn’t paid in the end.”
Read: Johannes Marliem, Key Witness in E-KTP Graft Case, Dead in US
On July 17, Johannes Marliem claimed that he recorded four years-worth of conversation regarding the e-KTP project which he claimed was to ‘keep everybody honest’. The size of the files totaled up to 500 gigabytes. He stated in the interview that he isn’t afraid of the fact that he has crucial evidence that implicates high ranking people in the Indonesian Government, Ministries, political parties, up to members of the House of Representatives (DPR).
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