TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said that the agency is cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the electronic identity cards (e-KTP) following the death of a key witness named Johannes Marliem in Minnesota.
“We are cooperating with the FBI to collect and find evidence because there is also evidence [in the e-KTP case] in the United States,” KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said on October 5.
Star Tribune and Wehoville report FBI special agent Jonathan Holden has revealed the investigation into the assets belonged to Marliem. According to him, the FBI gathered that the deceased’s personal bank account received US$13 million from the Indonesian government bank account from July 2011 to March 2014.
The money was used by Marliem to acquire assets and luxury goods, including a US$135,000 watch from a boutique in Beverly Hills, CA. Marliem later gave the expensive watch to the House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Setya Novanto.
Febri said that the ongoing trial process at the Corruption Court has already revealed the money trail into Indonesian officials.
The KPK will study further the FBI agent’s investigation, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, in the US, the legal process over the assets allegedly linked to transnational crimes is underway, he said.
The FBI investigation has corroborated the existing evidence in the e-KTP graft case, according to Febri.
FAJAR PEBRIANTO
