Examined By The KPK Regarding Allegations Of Corruption At The Ministry Of Agriculture, Donal Fariz: I Am Not SYL's Attorney

JAKARTA - Lawyer Donal Fariz admitted that he was only examined for 50 minutes as a witness to the alleged corruption of the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) that ensnared former Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo. This is because he is not one of the attorneys who handles this case.

"Because I am not Syahrul Yasin Limpo's attorney, so the material for my question is only 12 questions and only 50 minutes," Donal told reporters at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Friday, October 20.

"I am not a lawyer at the level of investigation or at the level of investigation," he continued.

Not only that, but Donal also admitted that he was asked the reason for not being Syahrul's attorney by KPK investigators. He then answered that this was his personal assessment.

"I certainly appreciate the choice of colleagues but also professionally choose not to hold this case both at the level of investigation and investigation. So 12 questions for 50 minutes like that," he explained.

As previously reported, the KPK summoned Donal Fariz and three other witnesses. They are Syahrul's aide, Panji Harjanto and his driver, Hartoyo alias Heri and the Secretary General of Facilities and Agricultural Infrastructure of the Ministry of Agriculture Hermanto.

Meanwhile, the KPK said that SYL extorted its employees by requiring to pay deposits every month with the help of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture Kasdi Subagyono and the Director of Agricultural Equipment of the Ministry of Agriculture Muhammad Hatta. The amount set by Syahrul and must be deposited by echelon I-II employees is around 4,000-10,000 US dollars.

It is believed that the money collected does not only come from the realization of the Ministry of Agriculture's budget inflated or mark-ups but from vendors working on projects. The money is given in cash, transfers or goods.

The KPK then suspected that the money Syahrul received was used for various personal interests. Starting from Umrah with other Ministry of Agriculture employees, buying cars, repairing houses to flowing to the NasDem Party with a value of up to billions of rupiah.