JAKARTA, July 11 (Reuters) – A top Indonesian prosecutor resigned on Saturday after police conducted a series of raids related to corruption investigations, including at his residence, and seized cash amounting to more than $20 million in multiple currencies and 74 kg (163 lb) of gold bars this week.
• Febrie Adriansyah resigned from his position as head prosecutor of special crimes in the Attorney General’s Office to maintain neutrality amid the police investigation, according to a press statement from the AGO released in the early hours of Saturday.
• Police have named Febrie a suspect, alleging extortion, bribery and money laundering linked to a past case the prosecutor had overseen involving state insurer Asabri, police official Totok Suharyanto told a news conference on Saturday.
• Another suspect, identified by initials DR, also accused of money laundering, was in police custody, he said, without elaborating.
• Febrie, who on Friday denied any wrongdoing, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
• Police have raided 12 locations and interviewed 15 witnesses this week, Jakarta police spokesperson Budi Hermanto said on Friday.
• Febrie had led criminal investigations and prosecutions in some high profile cases, including the graft cases against startup Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim and former trade minister turned government critic Thomas Lembong, as well as state energy firm Pertamina’s alleged illegal fuel imports case.
• Febrie was also involved in President Prabowo Subianto’s forestry task force, which has taken over plantations and mines from companies accused of violating forest utilisation rules.
• Up until his resignation, he was overseeing a corruption investigation in the National Nutrition Agency, which runs Prabowo’s free school meals programme.
(Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Kim Coghill and Tomasz Janowski)
