Another lawmaker lands in jail

Rabby Pramudatama, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Fri, October 19 2012, 10:32 AM

Paper Edition | Page: 1

The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced former House of Representatives member Wa Ode Nurhayati of the National Mandate Party (PAN) to six years in prison on Thursday for accepting bribes from private businessmen and money laundering.

A panel of judges at the corruption court found Nurhayati, 31, guilty of accepting Rp 6.25 billion (US$650,000) in bribes from three businessmen to disburse the Regional Infrastructure Development Fund (DPID), a temporary budget project that allocates funds to several less-developed regions.

The bribes from the three businessmen Fahd El Fouz, Saul Paulus David Nelwan and Abram Noach Mambu were then wired by Nurhayati’s personal assistant, Sefa Yolanda, to her personal account, which constituted a violation of the Money Laundering Law.

Prosecutors sought 14 years for Nurhayati, combining bribery and money-laundering charges, an unprecedented move in the prosecution of graft cases in the country.

Judge Suhartoyo said that mitigating factors that could help Nurhayati’s cause were that she showed good behavior during the trial and that she had never been convicted before.

The court judges ordered her to pay a Rp 500 million fine. Nurhayati said she would appeal the verdict.

“I have prepared for the worst. I am steadfast and I sincerely do not hold any grudge against the court. I hope this experience turns into a good deed in the eyes of God,” she told reporters.

Initially, Nurhayati served as a whistle-blower who first disclosed alleged illicit practices in the deliberation of the state budget, including Infrastructure Development Acceleration Program (PPID) funds, before the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) decided to move against her.

She was first named a suspect by the KPK in December last year on bribery charges. She was arrested a month later. The KPK named her a suspect again in April on money laundering charges.

Prior to her arrest, Nurhayati, went public with her allegation that the House budget committee was a den of corruption.

She accused several fellow members of the House budget committee of being involved in the illicit DPID deliberations.

The involvement of other lawmakers was also confirmed by Fahd, a Golkar Party politician.

Fahd, who is the son of popular dangdut singer A Rafiq, testified during Nurhayati’s trial that there were other House budget committee members who were involved in the case, including Tamsil Linrung of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Mirwan Amir of the Democratic Party, Olly Dondokambey of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Melchias Markus Mekeng of Golkar.

The senior politicians played a key role in the disbursement of PPID funds to different regencies.

Another witness in the trial, businessman Haris Andi Surahman, backed Fahd’s claim that all member of the budget committee had roles in the case.

Both Mirwan and Tamsil also testified at the trial.

During the proceedings, Fahd admitted to having bribed Nurhayati to win the lucrative funding scheme.

Fahd said it was Haris who had introduced him to Nurhayati, a service for which Haris received a fee from Fahd.

According to the indictment, Fahd learned about the DPID funds on Sept. 10, 2010.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the antigraft body would follow up on all new information gathered from the trial.

Time line

Oct. 2, 2012: Jakarta Corruption Court prosecutors combine two charges against Wa Ode Nurhayati, seeking a sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment for bribery and money laundering.

July 13, 2012: The House of Representatives’ ethics council temporarily suspends Nurhayati as a lawmaker.

April 24, 2012: The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) name Nurhayati a suspect for the second time in less than five months, this time on money-laundering charges.

April 18, 2012: Nurhayati blames Deputy House Speaker Anis Matta for the modified clauses in the 2010 PPID, which eventually leads to a financial scandal.

Jan 26, 2012: The KPK detains Nurhayati. She is taken to the Pondok Bambu detention center in East Jakarta.

Dec. 9, 2011: The KPK names Nurhayati a suspect for allegedly accepting Rp 6.25 billion (US$650,000) linked to the disbursement of regional Infrastructure Development Acceleration Program (PPID) funds.

Dec. 7, 2011: The KPK bans Nurhayati from leaving the country. The KPK also slaps travel bans on three other people, including Wa Ode’s staffer, Sefa Yolanda, and two people known to work in the “private sector”.

Dec. 10, 2011: Nurhayati says via her Twitter account (@waodenur81) that she has submitted all the evidence on the “budget brokers”, particularly those linked to the PPID funds, to the KPK.

June 20, 2011: A member of the House budget committee, Nurhayati of the National Mandate Party (PAN), says her party has been advised by the House ethics council to seek her resignation after she makes a statement accusing House leaders of involvement in a budget committee brokering racket.

May 25, 2011: Nurhayati tells a TV show that brokers played a massive role in “engineering” budget allocations to regional administrations that offered kickbacks to lawmakers.