Bribes For Fry Export Take The Minister Of Marine Affairs And Fisheries, Edhy Prabowo, To Become A Resident Of The KPK Detention Center

JAKARTA - Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo had to take a bitter pill to return home from Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. The reason is that after arriving in Indonesia, he did not return to his house but was instead picked up by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) team of action against dozens of other people before being named as a suspect in a case of suspected bribery related to the export of fry.

The news that Minister Edhy was arrested by the KPK task force team began to get busy since Wednesday, November 25 in the morning. This confidant of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto was said to have been arrested at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Cengkareng, Tangerang when he arrived from abroad. This confusing issue soon came to light after KPK Deputy Chairman Nurul Ghufron confirmed the arrest.

"It is true (there was an arrest, ed) at 01.23 WIB in Soetta. There were several from the KKP and their families," Ghufron said when confirmed by reporters, Wednesday, November 25 morning.

Not long after, KPK chairman Firli Bahuri, through his written message, confirmed that his subordinates, whose task force team was led by senior investigator Novel Baswedan, had succeeded in arresting Edhy Prabowo.

"Last night the KPK Minister was secured at the KPK at Soekarno-Hatta Airport (Terminal, red) 3 when he returned from Honolulu," he said.

After the arrest, the former Deputy for Enforcement said that the task force team immediately took Edhy and 16 other people to the KPK Red and White House, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta to undergo further investigation.

After an intensive examination, the KPK then named Edhy Prabowo as the suspect who received the bribe along with five other people and officially wore an orange vest and handcuffs when it was announced to the public on Wednesday night, November 25.

In the press conference for the determination of the suspect, KPK Deputy Chairman Nawawi Pomolango said that before the silent operation was carried out, the KPK claimed to have received information on the suspicion of receiving money by State Administrators.

"The KPK received information on the alleged receipt of money by State Administrators. Furthermore, on November 21, 2020 to November 23, 2020, the KPK again received information on transactions in bank accounts that were suspected to hold funds," Deputy Chairman Nawawi Pomolango said at a press conference at Kuningan Persada Red and White House, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Thursday, November 26 in the morning.

From this account, the KPK detected the use of money by state administrators to buy a number of luxury goods abroad and eventually carried out a hand arrest (OTT) in a number of places such as Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Cengkareng, Tangerang; Jakarta; South Tangerang; Depok; and Bekasi.

The parties arrested at Soekarno-Hatta Airport were the Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Edhy Prabowo and his wife, Iis Rosyati Dewi; Stafsus Minister KP Safri; Director General of Fish Catching KP Zaini; Deputy Minister KP Yudha; Protocol of the Minister KP Yeni; Public Relations Ministry KP Desri; and Director General of Selamet KKP Cultivation.

Meanwhile, those arrested in their respective homes were the Director of PT DPP Suharjati; the management and controller of PT ACK Siswadi and his wife Nety and Deden Deni; controller of PT PLI Dipo; Staff of the Minister of KP Chusni Mubarok and Syaihul Anam; the staff of the wife of the Minister of KP Ainul Faqih; and staff of PT Gardatama Security Mulyanto.

Of these 17 people, after the KPK conducted an intensive examination for dozens of hours, seven suspects were finally named in the bribery case consisting of six bribe recipients, namely KP Minister Edhy Prabowo, staffsus Minister KP Safri (SAF) and Andreau Pribadi Misanta. (APM); management of PT Aero Citra Kargo (PT ACK) Siswadi (SWD); staff wife of the Minister of KP Ainul Faqih, and Amiril Mukminin (AM).

Meanwhile, the giver of the bribe was the Director of PT Dua Putra Perkasa Pratama (PT DPPP) Suharjito (SJT).

After reading the name of the suspect involved in this case, Nawawi then explained that the alleged corruption in the export of fries began in May when Edhy issued a decree number 53 / KEP MEN-KP / 2020 concerning the Due Diligence Team for Lobster Cultivation Fishery Business Licenses. by appointing Andreau Pribadi Misata who is also a special staff to the Minister as the Head of Due Diligence and Safri as Deputy Chair of the Due Diligence Team.

This team, said Nawawi, has the task of checking the completeness of the administrative documents submitted by prospective fry exporters.

Furthermore, in early October, the Director of PT Dua Putra Perkasa Suharjito, who recently became a bribe, came to the office of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) and met Edhy's staff, Safri on the 16th floor.

"During the meeting, it was discovered that to export lobster seeds only through forwarder PT Aero Citra Kargo with a transportation fee of Rp1,800 / head, which is an agreement between AM (Amiril Mukminin) and APS and SWD," said Nawawi.

From here it is suspected that an agreement was made to give money. This is because the company owned by Suharjito was then said to have transferred to PT Aero Citra Kargo's account with a total of IDR731,573,564.

Then, based on the direction of Edhy Prabowo through his team, PT Dua Putra Perkasa obtained the determination of the fry export activity and has made 10 shipments using the company PT Aero Citra Kargo. As for the investigation by the KPK, the holders of PT Aero Citra Kargo are Amri and Ahmad Bahtiar who are suspected of being nominees from Edhy Prabowo and Yudi Surya Atmaja's side.

Furthermore, the money that went into the account of PT Aero Citra Kargo, which was thought to have come from several lobster seed exporters, was then withdrawn and entered into the personal accounts of Amri and Ahmad with a total of Rp9.8 billion each.

Apart from this receipt, in May, the KPK also suspected that Edhy received US $ 100,000 from the Director of PT DPP Suharjito through Amiril Mukminin and his staff, Safri. Then the receipt of money also occurred last August amounting to Rp436 million from the staff of Edhy Prabowo's wife, Ainul Faqih.

After the money was received in Ahmad Bahtiar's account, the owner of the account made a transfer of IDR 3.4 billion to Edhy's wife's staff. The money transferred was then used to meet the needs of Edhy Prabowo and his wife, Iis Rosyati Dewi. Not only that, this money was also used by two of Edhy's staff, Safri and Andreau Pribadi Misata.

In fact, this money was also used by Edhy and his wife to buy luxury goods during a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, United States before they were arrested by the KPK. "For shopping for luxury goods by EP (Edhy Prabowo) and IRW (Iis Rosyati Dewi) in Honolulu, USA on November 21 to 23 (money used, red), Rp.750 million includes a Rolex watch, Tumi and LV bags, and clothes. Old Navy, "said Nawawi.

For his actions, Edhy and a number of officials in his ministry who were named as suspects who received bribes were then suspected of violating Article 12 paragraph (1) letters a or b or Article 11 of Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Eradication of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) to 1 of the Criminal Code.

Meanwhile, the suspect who gave the bribe is suspected of violating Article 5 paragraph (1) letter a or b or Article 13 of Law Number 31 Year 1999 as amended by Law Number 20 Year 2001 concerning Eradication of Corruption Crime.

Next, after being named a suspect, Edhy and other parties will be detained at the KPK Detention Center, the Red and White Building, KPK for the next 20 days from November 25 to December 14.

Meanwhile, the suspect Andreau Pribadi Misata who is Edhy's staff and someone named Amiril Mukminin has not been arrested. Because, both of them are not yet known. "The KPK appealed to the two suspects, namely APM and AM to surrender immediately," said Nawawi.

After being declared a suspect, Edhy Prabowo then spoke up and conveyed his apologies to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Gerindra Party Chairman Prabowo Subianto who also served as Defense Minister in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet. In his statement, he admitted that he was ready to be responsible for the alleged corruption case of lobster seeds or fries that caught him.

"First, I apologize to the president. I have betrayed his trust. Apologize to Prabowo Subianto who has taught many things," said Edhy after a press conference on Thursday, November 26 in the morning.

In addition, he also declared his resignation from the party. "I also apologize to all the extended family of my party. I hereby resign as vice chairman and later I will ask to resign as a minister and I am sure the process is ongoing. I take full responsibility and I will face it with soul. great, "he said.

It was not enough to stop there, he also apologized to his mother and said he would remain strong and take responsibility for his actions.

Finally, Edhy, who became the first minister in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet who was caught by the KPK's silent operation, also apologized to the public. "I also apologize to the whole society as if I was an image in public, it was not. That's enthusiasm. This is an accident that happened and I am responsible for all of this, I did not run away and I will reveal what I did, "he concluded.