JAKARTA: A top Indonesian energy official has been banned from overseas travel, media reported yesterday, in the latest graft case this month which threatens to further tarnish President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s final year in office.
The reported travel ban on Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Secretary General, Waryono Karno, follows the arrest earlier this month of the head of the energy regulator SKKMigas, Rudi Rubiandini, on bribery charges after large amounts of cash were found in his Jakarta home.
Officials from the Corruption Eradication Agency (KPK) and the immigration office were not immediately available for comment.
“Yes, that was two days ago,” Kompas daily quoted deputy head of the KPK Busryo Muqoddas as saying when asked if his agency had requested the travel ban on Waryono.
KPK routinely imposes travel bans when it is investigating individuals in corruption cases, and has already imposed them on three other SKKMigas officials.
Waryono has come under investigation after $200,000 was found in a bag in his office, KPK officials have said, although the Jakarta Post quoted Energy Minister Jero Wacik as saying the money was for legitimate purposes.
The scandals are the first to hit the top levels of the energy ministry, which oversees a major part of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.
REUTERS
