Living Abroad Is The Reason For KPK Facing Difficulty In Examining The E-ID Card Mega-Corruption Suspect Paulus Tannos

KPK Building (Wardhany Tsa Tsia/VOI)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Alexander Marwata revealed that the whereabouts of Paulus Tannos, the former President Director of PT Sandipala Arthaputra abroad, were hampered by their investigation. Tannos is a suspect in the alleged mega-corruption of the e-ID Card (e-KTP) procurement project.

"Paulus Tannos is currently domiciled in Singapore and the KPK has sent a summons to the accused several times. I don't know if there has been a reply, we will check later," said Alexander, quoted from the Indonesian KPK's YouTube broadcast, Friday, October 1.

If later Tannos is not willing to be questioned at the anti-corruption commission office, Alexander said, his party will ask for assistance from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) of Singapore to provide inspection facilities.

"KPK has coordinated with CPIB several times to examine witnesses and those who are suspects at the CPIB office," he said.

Not only that, but Alexander also said that his party found it difficult to examine Paulus Tannos due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, investigators cannot freely go to the Lion Country due to a number of restrictions.

"Indeed, the difficulty is also because of the pandemic, KPK investigators have not been able to enter Singapore," he said.

As previously reported, the KPK last summoned Tannos on Friday, September 24. However, he was not present because he was in Singapore.

In the development of the corruption case in the procurement of e-KTP, the KPK named four new suspects in August 2019. They are former House of Representatives (DPR) member, Miryam S Hariyani; President Director of Perum PNRI who is also Chairman of the PNRI Consortium, Isnu Edhi Wijaya; Head of the Information Technology Technical Team for the Application of Electronic Identity Cards, Husni Fahmi; and the President Director of PT Sandipala Arthaputra, Paulus Tannos.

The company led by Tannos, PT Sandipala Arthapura, allegedly enriched up to IDR 145.85 billion from this project.

For information, this corruption case in the procurement of e-KTP has cost the state up to IDR 2.3 trillion when referring to the report from the Supreme Audit Agency.

This case dragged the names of a number of high-ranking officials in the ministry, such as the former Director-General of Citizenship and Civil Registration (Dukcapil), Irman, and a former official at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Sugiharto.

In addition, there are also the names of the former chairman of the DPR RI Setya Novanto, a former member of Commission III DPR RI Fraction Hanura Miryam S Haryani, a former member of Commission III DPR RI Markus Nari.