PKS beef case ready to go before the court

JAKARTA. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has wrapped up its investigation into former Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq and his aide Ahmad Fathanah in the beef importation affair.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that dossiers on the two suspects were complete and had been handed to prosecutors in the case. The trial of the two could start as early as next week.

“We will bring new evidence to the trial that we haven’t presented in the previous hearings,” Johan said.

Luthfi is accused of arranging a meeting attended by Agriculture Ministry Suswono and meat importing company PT Indoguna Utama president director Maria Elizabeth Liman in Medan, North Sumatra, to coax the minister to raise the quota under the pretext that the country was facing a shortage of beef.

PT Indoguna Utama directors, Juard Effendi and Arya Abdi Effendi are currently on trial in for paying Rp 1.3 billion (US$131,300), believed the first payment of total of promised Rp 40 billion, to Luthfi through his aide, Fathanah.

The bribe was given to influence Suswono to raise the national beef import quota.

KPK prosecutors demanded that Arya and Juard be sentenced to 4.5 years in prison.

The KPK is now investigating the complicity of Maria in the scandal.

The coming trial of Luthfi and Fathanah could provide new leads in the case.

“We will validate all testimonies from the suspects during the trial and use them for further investigation in this case,” he said.

Johan said that Minister Suswono and PKS chief patron Hilmi Aminuddin could be summoned to testify. Hilmi has faced questions over his alleged role in the affair.

He was believed to have personally known Fathanah, but ‘forgot’ that he knew him.

Meanwhile, the KPK has returned a plush SUV to the PKS central executive board after finding that the vehicle was not related to the case.

KPK investigators seized the car, which is owned by Luthfi’s personal secretary Ahmad Zaky, believing that it was purchased with money from graft.

However, based on an investigation, the vehicle turned out to be a prize given in a golfing tournament.

In early May, the KPK confiscated five cars parked at PKS headquarters that were believed by to have been purchased by Luthfi using illegally obtained money.

The party had initially prevented KPK investigators from seizing the cars, claiming that the investigators failed to show a warrant. (koi/The Jakarta Post)