KPK says Djoko married teen to hide his wealth

JAKARTA. At a glance, the relationship between teen pageant queen Dipta Anindita and top police general Djoko Susilo, 48, might be described as naive gold digger meets dirty old man. 

Dipta, a former Putri Solo, was only 19 when she married Djoko, who gave her a handsome Rp 15 billion (US$1.5 million) dowry. 

However, as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) digs deeper into the Djoko’s case, investigators have found indications that his polygamous marriage to Dipta was aimed at covering up the wealth he allegedly illicitly amassed. 

The KPK has confiscated 11 houses owned by Djoko, who has been arrested and charged with corruption and money laundering in the Rp 200 billion (US$20.6 million) driving simulator procurement scandal that occurred when he led the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas). 

The commission has confiscated 11 of Djoko’s houses — some on lots larger than a hectare — in Depok, West Java; Jakarta; Semarang and Surakarta, Central Java; and Yogyakarta. 

Djoko allegedly has Rp 40 billion in assets in Surakarta alone; the amount of his total assets remains unknown. 

While Djoko bought all the houses, the properites have been registered to several of his relatives, including Dipta and other women also suspected to be his wives. One house in Surakarta was registered to Dipta, while another was registered to Poppy Femialya, a woman friend. 

The KPK has questioned both Dipta and Poppy as witnesses in the case. Djoko is alleged to have wired money received as kickbacks from the procurement project to both women. He has also given seven luxurious houses and an apartment to Dipta.

It is unclear how many wives Djoko has. Other than Suratmi, his first wife, and Dipta, he has also reportedly married a woman named Mahdiana. 

Yenti Garnasih, a criminal law and money laundering expert from Trisakti University, said that she suspected Djoko was “layering” his assets to escape detection. “It is more difficult for the KPK to investigate Djoko’s assets if their ownership has been handed over to other people,” she told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Yenti said that the commission had to speed its investigation of Djoko’s assets if it wants to find them. “If the KPK moves too cautiously and too slowly, then it will be too late since it will be very difficult to trace where the money went.” 

The KPK, according to Yenti, had to be stern and swift, without going overboard in exercising its authority. “The KPK needs to make sure that the assets confiscated are related to the driving simulator procurement case. If the houses were bought after 2011, when the case occurred, then the KPK will have to justify its actions.”

KPK deputy chief Bambang Widjojanto said that he was convinced that most of Djoko’s assets were bought with money obtained illicitly.

“Is the financial profile of Djoko, who spent his entire career in the police, suitable with his job?” he told the Post.

Djoko is the third graft suspect charged under the Money Laundering Law by the KPK, following the conviction of two disgraced lawmakers, Wa Ode Nurhayati, a former member of the House of Representatives’ budget committee, and Muhammad Nazaruddin, the former Democratic Party treasurer.

Hans Nicholas Jong / The Jakarta Post