KPK Summons The Director Of Production And Cultivation Of The Ministry Of Marine Affairs And Fisheries Regarding Bribes

Illustrations (Photo: Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators summoned 4 people to be examined as witnesses in the bribery case for export permits or lobster seeds.

This is done to investigate the case that ensnared the former Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) Edhy Prabowo.

The 4 witnesses were the Director of Aquaculture Production and Business, the Director-General of Aquaculture, Arik Hari Wibowo, a civil servant, Romel Sungoro, and two from the private sector, Dasep Herdiansyah, and Eko Irwanto.

"The four of them were examined as witnesses for the EP suspect (Edhy Prabowo)", said KPK spokesperson for prosecution Ali Fikri in an electronic message received on Thursday, March 4.

It is not yet known what material the investigators will ask about, but the four people are suspected of knowing about the bribery case that ensnared Edhy and a number of his staff.

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 IDR 9.8 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to the account of PT ACK, which is currently the sole cargo service provider for the export of lobster seeds, is then withdrawn to the accounts of PT ACK holders, namely Ahmad Bahtiar and Amri, for a total of IDR 9.8 billion.

Furthermore, on November 5, 2020, Ahmad Bahtiar transferred IDR 3.4 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.

Also, around May 2020, Edhy was suspected of receiving USD 100 thousand from Suharjito through Safri and Amiril.