Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators questioned Secretary-General of the Agriculture Ministry, Kasdi Subagyono, in connection with alleged corruption at the ministry.

Subagyono arrived at the KPK office in South Jakarta on Tuesday morning.

Head of KPK's Publication Department, Ali Fikri, also confirmed that Subagyono was being questioned as a witness.

"He was summoned and questioned as a witness for another suspect's case file," Fikri confirmed via a short message.

However, the KPK has yet to provide further details on the information obtained from Subagyono.

On Monday (October 9), KPK investigators also questioned the ministry's Director of Agricultural Equipment and Machinery, Muhammad Hatta, as a witness in the same case.

Earlier, on September 29, investigators from the KPK announced that they had raised the status of the alleged corruption case at the Ministry of Agriculture to the investigation stage.

Fikri noted that his side had named several parties as suspects. However, the KPK cannot yet announce the names since the investigation and evidence collection process is still ongoing.

As part of the investigation process, the KPK had also searched the official residence of former agriculture minister, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, on September 28 at the Widya Chandra Complex, South Jakarta. They found evidence in the form of cash in rupiah and foreign currency.

Fikri did not mention the exact amount of money confiscated in the search though said that the amount was valued at tens of billions.

KPK investigators also confiscated several pieces of evidence in the form of documents during the search process, including numerous documents, such as financial records and gifts of assets of economic value and other documents.

The anti-graft agency then searched Limpo's two private houses at two different locations in Makassar City, South Sulawesi, on October 4.

According to Fikri, KPK investigators also deterred nine people related to the alleged corruption case from traveling abroad.

"We have proposed a suggestion to prevent nine people from traveling abroad. They are suspects and other related parties in this case," he noted on October 6.

Ali explained that the ban was valid until April 2024 and could be extended according to the needs of the investigation.

"Those who are prohibited from going abroad must stay in Indonesia. We remind them to cooperate in following this legal process, including by being present to fulfill the summons agenda of the investigative team," he emphasized.

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Translator: Fath Putra Mulya, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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