KPK may name more suspects in Garuda graft case

JAKARTA. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is looking into the possibility of there being more suspects in a graft case involving the procurement of Rolls Royce aircraft engines, in which former Garuda Indonesia president director Emirsyah Satar and businessman Soetikno Soedarjo have been implicated.

“From the investigation, we found that the two people declared suspects in the case allegedly worked with other parties,” KPK spokesperson Febri Diansyah told reporters on Friday.

He further said the KPK was  investigating whether other parties had been involved in the case to act as bribers or recipients of funds from the procurement of Rolls Royce aircraft engines between 2005  and 2014, when Emirsyah was the president director of Garuda Indonesia.

On Friday, the KPK questioned Richard Budihadianto, former director of the Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF), a subsidiary of Garuda Indonesia, and the company’s current vice president of corporate planning, Setijo Wibowo, as the anti-graft body intensifies its investigation by questioning more people, both former and current Garuda Indonesia employees.

The KPK named Emirsyah and Soetikno suspects in the bribery case on Jan. 19. Soetikno allegedly acted as a broker between Rolls Royce Ltd. and Emirsyah in the British aero engine manufacturing company’s alleged attempt to secure procurement deals for Garuda’s Airbus aircraft.