Neneng Sri Wahyuni, a key witness, reveals the complexity of the bribery links in the Hambalang sports stadium construction scandal. Her job was to regulate the flow of bribes.
Like the vast ocean that never overflows, Muhammad Nazaruddin must take in the tributary effects of so many bribery cases. The Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK has hardly completed its investigation into the shoddy construction work in the graft-ridden Hambalang sports stadium and Palembang athletes' village projects, the Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK, is now looking into Nazaruddin's assets, following the recent arrest of his wife, Neneng Sri Wahyuni.
Neneng was nabbed at her lavish home in Pejaten, South Jakarta, not long after she arrived from Malaysia, via Batam. According to an investigator, Neneng returned to Indonesia to take care of the couple's assets, valued at around Rp1 trillion, after turning fugitive for more than a year.
The KPK also arrested two Malaysians suspected of assisting Neneng during her flight from the law and declared them as suspects. "They were her business associates while she was on the run. One of them was a prominent adviser to the Malaysian Kingdom," KPK deputy Bambang Widjojanto disclosed last week.
The two, named Mohammad Hasan bin Khusi Mohamad and R. Azmi bin Mohamad Yusof, received Rp900 million and Rp250 million for helping Neneng, an investigator said.
Azmi is Managing Director of Meram Holding Sdn. Bhd., a real estate company based in Kuala Lumpur. A source close to the family recounted that Neneng had visited Azmi's home in an upscale residential complex in Shah Alam, Selangor, around the end of last year. "It was a meeting to discuss business," he said.
However, Azmi's wife, Ashah Abubakar, interviewed at her Selangor home, denied Neneng ever visited their home. "I have never met her and I don't know who Neneng is," she told Tempo's Sukma N. Loppies. She claimed she had no knowledge of her husband's business activities.
KPK deputy Busyro Muqoddas said Azmi had once been caught on the Cipinang Penitentiary's CCTV cameras as he visited Muhammad Nazaruddin in jail. Azmi was indeed busy traveling back and forth between Jakarta and Selangor. Besides Nazaruddin, he is also close with other Democrat politicians, among others, Bertha Herawati, a notary who usually took care of Nazaruddin's company permits and documents.
Bertha has known Azmi for a year as a property businessman from Malaysia. Apart from the one from Meram, Bertha also has Azmi's other business card from HTM Consultants Sdn. Bhd where he holds the position of President Director. "He said he wanted to invest in Indonesia," said one of the Democrat Party's founders.
KPK has charged Azmi with Article 21 on abetting a crime suspect. Neneng is a suspect in the corruption case involving the supply of solar power electricity generators for the Labor and Transmigration Ministry in 2008.
The project was won by Alfindo Nuratama Perkasa. The company was owned by Arifin Ahmad and 'borrowed' by Neneng as a front for a number of projects. In exchange for loaning his company to Neneng, Arifin received one percent of the total rp 8 billion project value. From this practice, Neneng is suspected to have pocketed a profit of Rp2.7 billion, by sub-contracting the project to PT Sundaya for Rp5.29 billion. The profit was deposited to Alfindo's account after winning the tender.
The official authorized to conduct the auction, Timas Ginting, has been sentenced to 2 years in prison for accepting a kickback of Rp77 million and US$2,000 from Alfindo.
According to Yulianis, Permai Group Finance Director, who replaced Neneng in 2006, the money from this company was often used for a variety of purposes, including to bribe legislators and officials of the Sports and Youth Ministry.
With so much evidence pointing to her involvement, Neneng may now find it difficult to dodge the allegations, particularly after Nazaruddin said his wife received Rp750 million as a loan repayment from PT Alfindo. "However her statement is also crucial to resolve other cases, such as the Palembang Athletes' Village construction case and the Hambalang project," said KPK spokesman Johan Budi S.P.
Hambalang is a sport complex project in Sentul, Bogor, worth Rp1.52 trillion. Nazaruddin along with several Democrat politicians facilitated the deal to ensure that Adhi Karya and Wijaya Karya ended up as the project's contractors.
Nazaruddin's company, Anugrah Nusantara, which later became the Permai Group, is alleged to have charged exorbitant fees, which he later used to bribe politicians at the Democrat Party congress to help Anas Urbaningrum secure the chairman's seat. This information was confirmed by Neneng.
To KPK investigators, Neneng, who regulated the flow of bribes from and to her husband's companies, said last Monday that Anugrah's shares were initially owned by Anas and her husband. "Pak Nazaruddin later sold his 30 percent stake to Anas," disclosed Rufilus Hutauruk, Neneng's lawyer.
Nazaruddin repeatedly said that the project executors had given Rp100 billion to Anas as commission. He said that Rp50 billion was for Anas himself and the rest distributed among House of Representatives (DPR) members and Sports and Youth Ministry officials. Anas also repeatedly refuted allegation, albeit vaguely. "There was no money. Just guava leaves," he quipped.
Anas's lawyer, Firman Wijaya, doubted materials provided by Neneng to the KPK would affect Anas, let alone corner him. "Probably the same testimony as Nazaruddin's. I doubt its validity," he said.
The problem is that the KPK lacks evidence from both sides regardingthe company's shares. However, a KPK investigator ascertained that Neneng's testimony would complement the statements of Nazaruddin and Angelina Sondakh, and would eventually be used to target Anas.
Yulianis said that she may have been the company's director, but it was Neneng who regulated billions of rupiah that moved in and out of the company's accounts. "How would I dare spend the money without her approval?" she asked. The woman born in 1982 meticulously recorded all the details of the expenses including the recipients.
KPK chairman Abraham Samad confirmed that the commission had enough evidence for the Hambalang case. "Now all we have to do is to complete the case; we now have the main evidence," he said. One of the bribery evidences, Samad said, is a gift of a Toyota Harrier from Adhi Karya to Anas Urbaningrum.
Nazaruddin testified to the KPK that the car with the license plate B-15-AUD was purchased in November 2009 from Duta Motors, a car dealership in Pecenongan, Central Jakarta, and given to Anas as a reward for helping Adhi Karya win the tender. Anas never responded specifically to the issue, although it had sparked rumors since the license plate was similar to that carried by a Toyota Alphard owned by Anas. "We already have the evidence," Samad reiterated.
An investigator likened the case to the wars of the sea: "Neneng is the last fish to trap the whale."
By Bagja Hidayat, Tri Suharman
Tempo
No. 44/12, June 26, 2012
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