Raffi Ahmad on Photo at Blueray and iPhone 17: 'Just Small Talk'

Raffi Ahmad has confirmed that he once posed for a photograph in front of the Blueray Cargo office in New York, United States. At the time, Gading Marten, Desta and Ariel Noah also joined the photograph. They were in New York after participating in a marathon event in Chicago. In New York, Raffi and the others first visited Awang Kitchen restaurant and Indojava shop. Afterwards, Raffi was asked to take a photo by Blueray employees whose office was also nearby. “I came out of Awang Kitchen, and one, two, three shops next door there was something called Blueray. They called out to me, ‘Mas Raffi, Mas Ariel, Mas Gading, let’s take a picture with me’. I replied, oh, yes, yes, so we took a photo in front of the shop,” Raffi said during a press conference in South Jakarta on Thursday (11/6). Raffi revealed that during that moment he was offered several items, including an offer to have the latest mobile phone sent to him. Raffi admitted to responding to the offer at the time. However, he said, the response was merely polite small talk. “It’s impossible, right, for me to say, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to send anything through you’. I couldn’t say that, could I?” he said. “So I said, ‘Oh, yes, yes, yes. Okay, when there is a new mobile phone later, I’ll send it then’. That was the extent of it. In essence, I was making small talk. After that, I left to go somewhere else. That was all there was to it,” he continued. Raffi also stated that after that encounter, he had no further relations or communication with Blueray. He also stressed that he had never received any shipments from Blueray. “I do not have their telephone number. I have never received any shipments. I don’t even remember their name. I never placed an order, transactionally speaking, not at all. It was just small talk. I have no communication with them, so I am confused as to why people say I am in communication with them,” said Raffi. Raffi Ahmad has been mentioned in a case of alleged bribery related to goods importation within the Directorate General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance. Raffi’s name first surfaced during a trial with defendant John Field, a leader of Blueray Cargo Group, and others held at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court on Friday (5/6). During that session, KPK prosecutors initially questioned witness Sri Pangestuti, also known as Tuti, a Customs Clearance Service Entrepreneur, regarding a request to ship a laptop and iPhone 17 from the US to Indonesia. The request was relayed by Yohanes, John Field’s personal assistant, when Raffi visited the Blueray Cargo office in the US. “Were you ever asked for assistance, as seen in WhatsApp communications, to send a laptop and an iPhone from the United States?” the prosecutor asked during the trial. Tuti then confirmed the communication between herself and Yohanes. However, she claimed she was unwilling to fulfil the request. Raffi’s name is also known to be recorded in Yohanes’s official examination report. This was questioned by prosecutors during the trial on Wednesday (20/5). “In Examination Report Number 108, there is a cargo consignment in Bali under the name Raffi Ahmad through Nelwan, a Blueray Jakarta employee based in the United States. He entrusted a laptop and a mobile phone. What does the witness say about this?” asked the prosecutor. Yohanes then explained that Nelwan was the Head of Blueray Cargo’s US Division. At the time, Raffi was on holiday. “Allow me to explain. So, that was from Ko Nelwan, he is the head of the American division. Raffi was just travelling in America, and he wanted to entrust a mobile phone. It was the iPhone 17, if I’m not mistaken, which had just been released, to be brought in,” Yohanes answered. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has confirmed that Raffi’s name was mentioned in the case. Acting Director of Investigations at the KPK, Achmad Taufik Husein, explained that Raffi’s name emerged because he had visited the Blueray Cargo office in the United States to entrust or send several electronic goods to Indonesia, such as the iPhone 17. “That is correct, there is the fact that individual RA entrusted the item,” Taufik said at the KPK’s Red and White Building in Jakarta on Monday evening (8/6).