Indonesian Graft Fugitive at Center of ‘Gecko vs Crocodile’ Dispute Arrested in China

Jakarta Globe, SP/Novianti Setuningsih & ID/Aris Cahyadi, January 31, 2014

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) grills graft suspect Anggoro Widjojo,
center, for five hours upon his arrival in Jakarta on Jan. 30, 2014. (ID Photo/Aris
Cahyadi)

An Indonesian graft fugitive at the center of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and National Police’s 2009 rivalry has been arrested in the Chinese city of Shenzen after evading law enforcement for five years.

Businessman Anggoro Widjojo was arrested on Wednesday at an immigration checkpoint while returning from Hong Kong to Shenzen, where he had apparently been residing for some time since fleeing Indonesia in 2008. Anggoro escaped after a travel ban was slapped against him during an ongoing investigation into a graft-ridden forestry project, in which he was named a suspect in June 2009.

The KPK, which made the arrest in cooperation with Indonesia’s immigration office and the Chinese police, said Anggoro had been using fake identities while jumping from one place to another, including Singapore and the Chinese city of Guangzhou, to evade Indonesian law enforcement.

KPK deputy chief Bambang Widjojanto said Anggoro was the last graft fugitive on the KPK’s wanted list.

“With the arrest of the suspect [Anggoro], the KPK has settled all of its debts concerning our search for people who have allegedly committed corruption but have escaped,” Bambang told a press conference in Jakarta early on Friday morning, a few hours after Anggoro’s arrival at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Anggoro was presented briefly in front of journalists, looking a bit plumper than the last time he was seen five years ago. His face looked the same, though, dismissing rumors that he had undergone plastic surgery to evade the law.

He was escorted to the KPK detention facility in Guntur, South Jakarta, at 3 a.m. on Friday, after being grilled at the KPK headquarters, also in South Jakarta, for five hours.

Jamaruli Manihurung, an Indonesian immigration official based in Guangzhou, said Anggoro did not resist his arrest at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong checkpoint.

Anggoro, a director and owner of Masaro Radiokom, allegedly bribed lawmakers to allow the radio communication company to renew its contract for the procurement of an Integrated Radio Communication System (SKRT) for the Ministry of Forestry in 2007, although a similar project — also involving Masaro — was previously halted in 2004.

The 2007 project was valued at Rp 180 billion ($14.8 million), and the case is believed to have caused the state Rp 13 billion in losses.

Five then-members of the House of Representatives’ Commission IV on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, including the head of the commission, Yusuf Erwin Faishal of the National Awakening Party (PKB), have been convicted in the case.

The four other lawmakers are Azwar Chesputra and Fahri Andi of the Golkar Party, Hilman Indra of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and Al Amin Nur Nasution of the United Development Party (PPP).

Other people convicted in the case include Widjodjo Siswanto, then-head of the planning and finance bureau at the Ministry of Forestry, and Anggoro’s own brother, Anggodo Widjojo.

Anggodo has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after attempting to bribe KPK officials, as well as frame two of its former deputies —Bibit S. Rianto and Chandra Hamzah — to help Anggoro dodge law enforcement.

The attempted framing of Bibit and Chandra, in which the police named the two of them as bribery suspects, was at the center of a showdown involving the KPK and the police known popularly as “Cicak vs. Buaya” (“Gecko vs. Crocodile”), with the gecko representing the KPK and the crocodile the police.

The public has thrown its weight behind the gecko, mostly due to the police’s notoriety as one of the most corrupt institutions in Indonesia. The framing attempt was later revealed through wiretapped phone conversations between Anggodo and several police officials.

The Attorney General’s Office has cleared Bibit and Chandra of all charges.