Lobster Seed Bribery Case, KPK Summons 5 Witnesses

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) continues to investigate the bribery case of fries or lobster seeds that ensnared the former Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo. The KPK today summoned five witnesses.

The five of them will be asked for information to complete the files against Edhy Prabowo, who was caught in the arrest operation (OTT) after returning from the United States.

Those who were scheduled to be questioned were Ken Widharyuda Rinaldo, Heryanto, Noer Syamsi Zakaria, and Miliardso Ing Morah. While the other is a housewife, namely Siti Rogayah.

"Examined as a witness for the EP suspect (Edhy Prabowo)," said Acting KPK spokesman Ali Fikri in his written statement to reporters, Thursday, February 11.

He did not elaborate on the material that the investigators would examine from the witnesses. However, the witnesses summoned by the investigators are suspected of knowing, seeing, or even participating in the case being investigated.

As previously reported, in the case of the export bribery of shrimp fry or lobster seeds, Edhy Prabowo was named a suspect in receiving bribes along with five other people, namely: Stafsus Minister of KKP Safri (SAF) and Andreau Pribadi Misanta (APM); Management of PT Aero Citra Kargo (PT ACK) Siswadi (SWD); The staff of the wife of the Minister of KKP, 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).

Edhy was named a suspect because he was suspected of accepting bribes from companies that had been issued a lobster seed export license using a forwarder company and were kept in one account up to Rp9.8 billion.

The money that goes to the account of PT ACK, which is currently the sole cargo service provider for the export of lobster seeds, is then withdrawn to the accounts of PT ACK holders, namely Ahmad Bahtiar and Amri, for a total of Rp9.8 billion.

Furthermore, on November 5, 2020, Ahmad Bahtiar transferred Rp3.4 billion to the staff account of Edhy's wife, Ainul, which was earmarked for the needs of Edhy, his wife Iis Rosyati Dewi, Safri, and Andreau.

This money is used for shopping for luxury goods by Edhy and his wife in Honolulu, USA from November 21 to 23, 2020, amounting to around IDR 750 million, including Rolex watches, Tumi and LV bags, road bikes, and Old Navy clothes.

In addition, around May 2020, Edhy was also suspected of receiving 100 thousand US dollars from Suharjito through Safri and Amiril.