TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - For nearly a week in the middle of last May, four KPK investigators were in NTB questioning witnesses, including the governor; Muhammad Zainul Majdi or known as Tuan Guru Bajang (TGB). A week earlier, KPK leaders had signed an order to start the preliminary investigation into the case.
KPK investigators took an hour to ask Zainul more than 20 questions. In addition to asking about the divestment and sale of shares, investigators asked about a flow of funds to the bank accounts of Zainul and his wives, funds which are suspected of being connected with the divestment of Newmont stock from 2009-2013. "One question was about the flow of funds from Recapital Asset Management to my Bank Syariah Mandiri accounts," said Zainul, talking about the questions he was asked, on Friday last week.
Working with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), the KPK discovered a suspicious flow of Rp1.15 billion from Recapital Asset Management to Zainul’s Bank Syariah Mandiri bank accounts (Numbers 0367002XXX and 7006148XXX) in 2010. The money was sent to his accounts in two transfers. The KPK suspects that those funds are connected to the 24 percent of stock from the Newmont divestment purchased by Multi Daerah Bersaing in November 2009.
That company was a joint venture started by regional company Daerah Maju Bersaing and Multi Capital. Daerah Maju is a company which was formed by the regional government of NTB together with the Regencies of Sumbawa and West Sumbawa, which are home to Newmont mining locations. Multi Capital is a subsidiary of Bumi Resources, which is in the Bakrie Group. Recapital Asset Management, an institution suspected of channeling funds to Zainul according to a consolidated financial report of Bumi Resources in June 2010, is an investment management firm of the Bakrie Group, including at the time when the Newmont stock was purchased.
Speaking to KPK investigators, Zainul said that those funds were a loan from Rosan Roeslani, the owner of Recapital, borrowed for the needs of his Islamic Boarding School, Darunnahdlatain Nahdlatul Wathan, in NTB. He said that those funds were not connected to the stock divestment. "That was a loan which I have repaid," said Zainul. "Rosan and I are old friends."
According to one law enforcement official, there was something unusual about the duty stamp used on the loan agreement which that former Democrat Party politician showed to the investigators. "The duty stamp was printed after 2012," the official said. The debt was repaid in May this year, after the KPK began investigating suspected corruption in the Newmont divestment. As seen in an addendum to the agreement submitted to the KPK, the loan principal and interest amounted to Rp1.35 billion, an unusually large amount. Regarding this, KPK Chairman Agus Rahardjo did not have much to say. "We are looking into it," said Agus.
When asked to confirm the flow of funds to Zainul’s bank account, Rosan asked Tempo to address the question to Recapital’s directors. "I have given my answers to them," he said. However, a written reply from Recapital CEO Ferry Panggabean to Tempo only contained a general explanation about how company finances are managed. "The management aspect of our (company) is in line with current regulations," said Ferry. Bumi Resources Director/Corporate Secretary Muhammad Sulthon, through a written letter sent to Tempo, also gave a vague reply regarding the accusation of a flow of funds to Zainul. "Our finances are periodically reported to the public and the stockholders," he said.
In addition to coming across a suspected flow of funds from Recapital, the KPK also collected data from the PPATK about funds moving in and out of the bank accounts of Zainul and his wives. In addition to being suspected of receiving gratuities, Zainul is also suspected of placing those funds into his wife’s bank account and using them to purchase a Toyota All New Alphard X automobile on December 3, 2009, and two Toyota All New Avanza cars. This transaction period came after the purchase of divested stock from November 2009-2013.
Based on documents obtained by Tempo, Zainul is suspected of receiving funds both directly and indirectly, related to the Newmont stock divestment process, through some of his personal bank accounts in Bank Mandiri, Bank Syariah Mandiri, BCA, and Citibank. The total amount he received from 2009-2011 came to Rp7.36 billion. A part of this was sent to Bank Mandiri account number 1020004236XXX. Those documents also mention a flow of funds to Zainul in the form of foreign currency exchanges worth US$1 million.
Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
