Fiddling the Budget

After being cleared of allegations that he had ordered his subordinates to bribe lawmakers to approve his ministry's budget, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik now finds himself in the middle of a new corruption scandal. Last Wednesday, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) finally charged Jero, who has authored introductions to high school science textbooks, with extortion.

KPK Deputy Chief Bambang Widjojanto said Jero's methods were something new. The minister was suspected of tampering with the ministry's budget by raising money from sponsors for unimportant events. "This practice constitutes abuse of power leading to extortion," Bambang said last week.

September 9, 2014