KPK Seizes Homes, Cars and Cash From E. Java Politician

Fuad Amin Imron, speaker of the Bangkalan district legislature, was arrested for allegedly taking a kickback from an energy company

Jakarta Globe, Suara Pembaruan, Jan 22, 2015

Fuad Amin Imron, the speaker of the Bangkalan district legislature and a former
head of the district, was arrested in December. (Antara Photo/Hafidz Mubarak A.)

Jakarta. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has seized two Surabaya homes, six cars and Rp 100 million ($8,000) in cash from an East Java politician suspected of having taken kickbacks from an energy company in connection with a natural gas concession.

Fuad Amin Imron, the speaker of the Bangkalan district legislature and a former head of the district, was arrested in December and is currently being held in Jakarta.

KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha confirmed late on Wednesday that the cars seized were mostly luxury vehicles, including a Toyota Alphard a Toyota Land Cruiser.

Earlier on Wednesday, the anti-graft agency confirmed that an activist in East Java who was recently ambushed and shot by unknown gunmen had been helping it in its investigation of Fuad.

Mathur Husairi, 47, the director of a local group named Islamic Center for Democracy, is in recovery at Soetomo General Hospital in Surabaya after he was shot by two unidentified gunmen at 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

Bambang Widjojanto, one of the KPK’s deputy chairmen, said that Mathur had been tipping off the agency about corruption cases plaguing his home district of Bangkalan, on the island of Madura.

Although denying that Fuad’s arrest was directly linked to a report from Mathur, Bambang said law enforcement officers should protect all antigraft activists, particularly those who had received numerous threats, including Mathur. “Hopefully in the not-so-distant future we will know the true motive behind the shooting,” Bambang said.