Secretary General of Energy Ministry Named Suspect in Graft Case

Jakarta (Antara) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named the secretary general of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry as a suspect in an alleged graft case at the ministry. "KPK investigators have found two pieces of evidence pointing to an alleged corruption case related to activities in the ministry. Therefore, they have named the secretary general of the ministry, identified by his initials as WK, as a suspect," KPK spokesman Johan Budi stated here on Thursday. KPK named WK as a suspect after broadening its investigations of a bribery case involving former chief of the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas), identified by his initials as RR, he pointed out. RR was named as a suspect for allegedly accepting a bribe of US$400 thousand from the commissioner of PT Kernel Oil Private Limited, SGT, through his golf trainer. He was arrested at his house in Jl, Brawijaya, South Jakarta, on Aug. 13. Later, the KPK had also named RR as a suspect in the money laundering case. Following the arrest of the former SKK Migas Chief, KPK officers had searched a number of places, including the office of the secretary general of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, from whom they seized 200 thousand US dollars. WK has already been questioned five times as a witness in the case. He was questioned about the money given to RR. "We are still considering expanding the investigation to see whether or not other parties have been involved in the case," Johan explained. (*)