As the ruling Democratic Party complains about the many graft allegations leveled against it, a classified document detailing the roles of those close to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the Hambalang graft case has circulated among journalists.
The document is purported to be a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) case dossier for Sylvia Sholehah, also known as Ibu Pur, a close friend of First Lady Ani Yudhoyono. The document, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, detailed the roles of Ibu Pur and Widodo Wisnu Sayoko, an alleged cousin of the President, and National Police Chief Gen. Sutarman, who in September was nominated by Yudhoyono as the sole candidate for the top police post.
According to the document, Sylvia told KPK investigators that in 2010 she had asked Sutarman, who was then the Jakarta Police chief, to protect the Youth and Sports Ministry from the threats of NGOs that opposed the construction of the Hambalang sports complex in West Java.
Sylvia said she had been asked by Widodo to get Sutarman's help. "I called the wife of Jakarta Police Chief Pak Sutarman. Her name is Dik Ely," she said in the dossier.
According to the dossier, Sutarman's wife then arranged a meeting between him, Sylvia, Widodo and Deddy Kusdinar, who was then the chief of financial and internal affairs at the ministry, at the Jakarta Police headquarters. Deddy is now standing trial for his alleged roles in the Hambalang graft case.
During the meeting, Widodo and Dedy told Sutarman that the ministry had received a threatening letter. "At the end of the meeting, I heard Pak Sutarman instruct his subordinate to go to the ministry's office soon. Then we said goodbye," Sylvia said.
Sutarman admitted that he knew Sylvia but denied his involvement in the Hambalang project. "I have nothing to do with Hambalang," he said.
According to the dossier, Sylvia allegedly used her influence to help the Youth and Sports Ministry get the approval from the Finance Ministry to transform the Hambalang project from a modest single-year plan into a multi-year one.
She allegedly approached Sudarto, then an official with the Finance Ministry's budget department, to ask about the development of the project. During a recent hearing in Deddy's trial, Widodo testified that he and Sylvia had met with Sudarto in 2010.
She said she first met Widodo during a visit with Eyang Habibah, Yudhoyono's mother. She said that Widodo's mother was the younger sister of Eyang Habibah.
Further adding fuel to the allegations that Sylvia is close to the First Family, the dossier said that she had sent text messages to the First Lady.
In the text messages, Sylvia told Ani that she was afraid Andi Mallarangeng was angry at her as she had failed to tell him about her efforts to use her influence to help a friend of her sister-in-law secure a furniture procurement tender at the Youth and Sports Ministry. "Ibu Pur, don't play games with officials or you will get into trouble," Ibu Pur said quoting Ani.
Presidential Secretariat head Nanang Djuana Priyadi has confirmed that Ibu Pur was a good friend of both President Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono.
The Palace, however, has denied that Ibu Pur was part of the President's inner circle.
The KPK said it could not confirm if the document was authentic or not.
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