Busyro promises to keep pursuing traveler’s check scam

Newly-elected Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Busyro Muqoddas promised that under his leadership the commission will continue to pursue the traveler’s check scandal that allegedly took place during the election of former central bank deputy senior governor Miranda Goeltom.

Busyro said that he would study the case carefully, especially with regard to one key witness, Nunun Nurbaeti, who repeatedly failed to meet court summonses because of personal health problems.

“Of course, after I join the commission we need to sit and discuss the issue along with Pak Bibit cum suis to delve into the existing evidence,” Busyro was quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Friday.

Busyro was referring to his deputies, Bibit Samad Rianto, Chandra M. Hamzah, Haryono Umar and M. Jasin.

Busyro asserted that his team should make sure they manage to gather evidence to build a strong case.

“[Sufficient] evidence is the most important thing before the court. Without that, we cannot properly build any case,” he said.

The traveler’s check case has implicated many House of Representatives politicians. Prosecutors have said the politicians received gratuitous traveler’s checks, and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named so far four suspects in the case.

Aside from the traveler check scandal, Busyro also vowed to follow upon the tax mafia case implicating Gayus Halomoan Tambunan.

Judicial Mafia Taskforce member Mas Achmad Santosa said earlier that the KPK has three priority cases it needs to resolve under the new chief.

In addition to the Gayus case and the traveler’s check scam, the commission needs to investigate the Bank Century bailout case, Mas Achmad said. The case is centered around the ballooning of bailout funds, totaling Rp 6.76 trillion (US$730 million). The case dragged the names of Vice President Boediono and former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati into the fray. The two had been subjected to intense public scrutiny, which ultimately culminated in the resignation of Sri Mulyani.