Indonesian minister’s arrest tests Prabowo’s anti-corruption pledge
Investigators have seized dozens of cars and a Ducati motorbike from the residence of the former deputy minister
Immanuel Ebenezer was swiftly fired by Prabowo following his arrest by the Corruption Eradication Commission on suspicion of receiving kickbacks and extortion. He is the first member of Prabowo’s cabinet to be named a suspect in a corruption investigation.
Anti-corruption investigators said Immanuel was caught red-handed while extorting a company in exchange for approving a workplace safety inspection, known locally as K3. He allegedly pocketed 3 billion rupiah (US$183,948) from the scheme in December, according to the commission’s chairman Setyo Budiyanto.
“From the K3 certification rate of 275,000 rupiah, the facts show that workers have to pay up to 6 million rupiah due to extortion, by means of slowing down, complicating, or even not processing applications for K3 certification for those who do not pay more,” Setyo told reporters.
The mark-ups from the certification process resulted in 10 billion rupiah of dirty money being diverted to 10 suspects, including Immanuel, Setyo said.