Minister Of Energy And Mineral Resources Jero Wacik Becomes A Corruption Suspect In Today's Memory, September 3, 2014

Former Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Jero Wacik walked out after being questioned at the KPK building, Jakarta, Friday (15/5/2015). (Between Photo/Hafidz Mubarak).

JAKARTA Memories of today, 10 years ago, September 3, 2014, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officially appointed the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Jero Wacik as a suspect in corruption. The determination of the jero was carried out related to his role in the singing of authority and extortion.

Previously, Jero was allegedly dissatisfied with the minister's operational budget which he considered small. Jero then played his part. He tried to take the remaining funds from the activity to fictitious meetings that were detrimental to the state.

Jero Wacik is known as a loyalist of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). Politicians from the Democratic Party are always trusted to carry out classy positions. Jero was once trusted to serve as Minister of Culture and Tourism in the 2004-2009 era.

He was also trusted as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources. His horn as minister of Energy and Mineral Resources initially went smoothly. However, problems arose when one of his subordinates was caught in corruption. The KPK also tried to find investigations related to corruption cases in the procurement of the ESDM Secretariat.

The case ensnared his subordinate, former Secretary General of ESDM, Waryono Karno. In fact, the investigation developed into another corruption case at ESDM. The KPK detected indications of abuse of authority and extortion at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

The KPK traced the case to one name: Jero Wacik. The corruption case involving Jero is fairly new and unique. Jero actually acts to tamper with the ministry's budget for non-essential activities from energy-efficient socialization to healthy bicycles.

The KPK describes Jero using his authority with three modes. First, he tried to collect the remaining funds for activities within the ESDM environment. Second, he collected deposits from the private sector who were the organizers. Third, holding fictitious meetings.

As a result, the KPK estimated the state losses caused by Jero reaching Rp9.9 billion. Uniquely, the corruption money was used to make advertisements for socializing the increase in fuel. The rest is only used for personal needs. Jero felt that the minister's operational budget was small.

According to the Deputy Chairperson of the KPK, Bambang Widjojanto, the money collected amounting to Rp 9.9 billion was then used by Jero to make advertisements for socializing the increase in fuel oil prices in the mass media. The rest is thought to have entered his pocket and his wife and children enjoyed. Therefore, during the investigation of this case since January, Jero's wife and daughters were twice examined to investigate its use.

"Tresnawati, Jero's wife, at that time only answered no comment after being questioned last July. This allegation was corroborated by a report from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center on Jero Wacik's accounts. Head of PPATK Agus Santoso even said that it was possible for Jero to commit a crime of money laundering originating from corruption," said Bagja Hidayat and his friends in his article in Tempo magazine entitled Tuk-Attics of the Imaging Budget (2014).

The KPK also took a stand. They immediately named the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Jero Wacik as a corruption suspect on September 3, 2014. Jero is considered to have violated Article 12 paragraph e or Article 23 of the Law on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption, which is affiliated with Article 421 of the Criminal Code.

Jero's determination brought a stir. President SBY himself admitted that he was surprised. Because, Jero is a politician from the Democratic Party who in fact is a party raised by SBY. Just a few days after the stipulation, Jero resigned from the position of Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources and was arrested by the KPK.

"After becoming a minister at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, funds are needed for a larger ministerial operation. To get a larger fund than budgeted, we are asked to do several things to people in the ministry," said Bambang Widjojanto, quoted by the BBC Indonesia website, September 3, 2014.