Bebizie Clarifies Her Position in Kutai Kartanegara Coal Case
Bebizie Sri Mulyati, chairwoman of the North Jakarta branch of the National Mandate Party (PAN), has explained her position after being questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as a witness in a case of alleged money laundering with predicate offences of gratuities per metric ton of coal in Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, on Thursday (13/8).
Bebizie said she had once accepted an invitation to perform as a singer for a company whose name she did not disclose.
“My status was as a singer performing at an event in East Kalimantan, so I was asked what connection I had. I then explained that in 2017–2018 I sang twice in East Kalimantan, invited by a company — there was a company that invited me,” Bebizie said after undergoing questioning as a witness at the KPK’s Red and White Building in Jakarta on Thursday (13/8) afternoon.
She said the investigators’ questions centred on payment transactions from the company to her during 2017–2018.
“Professionally, yes. That’s all. Around 29 questions,” she revealed.
As of the time this report was written, the KPK had not issued any statement regarding the examination.
Some time ago, the KPK named three coal companies in Kutai Kartanegara as suspects in an alleged corruption case. The case is still linked to former Kutai Kartanegara regent Rita Widyasari.
The three companies named as suspects by the KPK, based on an investigation order issued last February, are PT Sinar Kumala Naga, PT Alamjaya Barapratama, and PT Bara Kumala Sakti.
The three are coal-producing companies located in Kutai Kartanegara Regency and are suspected of having been used as instruments for Rita to receive gratuities.
As the process has unfolded, many witnesses have also been examined. Among them are Rita Widyasari, member of House of Representatives Commission III from the NasDem faction Nabil Husein Said Amin Al Rasydi, general chairman of Pemuda Pancasila Japto Soerjosoemarno, and a private party named Geisz Chalifah.