Indonesia's PLN boss denies links to power station graft case (updated)

Blackgold Natural Resources

16/07/2018 14:52

(Recasts, updates throughout)
    By Wilda Asmarini
    JAKARTA, July 16 (Reuters) - The chief executive of
Indonesian electricity utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN)
denied wrongdoing on Monday after the country's Corruption
Eradication Commission (KPK) searched his house for evidence in
a power station graft probe.
    "This case is in the hands of a consortium, not PLN," Chief
Executive Sofyan Basir told reporters at a news conference,
referring to Riau-1 coal fired power station project partners
BlackGold and China Huadian Engineering Co., Ltd. (CHEC).
    "It was nothing to do with us at all," Basir said, referring
to PLN unit PT Pembangkitan Jawa-Bali (PJB), which has a
majority stake in the project.
    The graft was worth 4.8 billion rupiah ($333,000),
broadcaster Berita Satu reported.
    Basir said the investigators had taken documents related to
the proposal from his house during the Sunday raid. 
    "It's normal," Basir said, referring to KPK investigators
who arrived on Monday afternoon to search for evidence in the
directors' offices at PLN headquarters in Jakarta.
    PLN's PJB had been in talks for around two years with the
consortium, and had yet to reach agreements on power pricing or
project operations, he said.
    "We'll take a break," he said referring to the project. "We
don't know yet how long for."
    PLN's management is cooperating with investigators and will
obey the law, Basir added.
    The probe is the latest in a string of high profile graft
investigations under President Joko Widodo, who is working to
improve the image of Indonesia's energy sector after a series of
scandals implicating government officials.
    Eni Maulani Saragih, the deputy chief of parliament
commission VII, which oversees the energy sector, was arrested
by the KPK on Friday and later named as a suspect on allegations
she received bribes related to the project, KPK spokesman Febri
Diansyah said.
    The KPK had collected evidence including CCTV recordings and
data on laptops, he added.
    Also named suspect was Johanes Budisutrisno Kotjo, a former
consultant for BlackGold Natural Resources Limited  BLAC.SI .
    Saragih and Kotjo were both detained by the KPK and could
not immediately be reached for comment.
    BlackGold denied wrongdoing.   
    "The Directors and management were not, and are not involved
whatsoever, in the transaction mentioned," BlackGold Chief
Executive Philip Cecil Rickard said in a stock exchange filing,
referring to press statements from the KPK.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nSNZ92Vs2l
    "Negotiations on the Riau-1 Project have been progressing as
intended," Rickard said, adding there had been no impact on the
company's business activities.
  ($1 = 14,397 rupiah)

 (Reporting by Wilda Asmarini and Tabita Diela; Writing by
Fergus Jensen
Editing by Christian Schmollinger/Keith Weir)
 ((fergus.jensen@thomsonreuters.com; +62 21 2992 7604; Reuters
Messaging: fergus.jensen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))