Jakarta. A former investigator of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was convicted for accepting Rp 11.5 billion ($802,000) in bribe money and sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday.

Stepanus Robin Pattuju was found guilty of accepting money from a number of people subject to investigation by the commission in exchange for dropping their case, according to the panel of judges at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court.

The court also convicted lawyer Maskur Husain for the same case and sentenced him to nine years' imprisonment in a separate hearing.

Stepanus is ordered to repay Rp 2.3 billion to the state coffers within a month after his conviction is final and binding or law enforcement agencies will seize his assets, the panel said.

“If the defendant doesn't have enough resources to repay, his sentence shall be added by another one and a half years,” Presiding Judge Djuyamto said.

In a separate hearing, Maskur was ordered to return Rp 9.2 billion of the ill-gotten money to the state.

The lawyer has actively advised graft suspects or potential suspects to seek help from Stepanus, the court heard. 

Both men have taken payment from, among other persons, top lawmaker Azis Syamsuddin who is currently a corruption suspect in the KPK.

Stepanus, a middle-ranking police officer hired by the KPK, was named suspect last April on charge of accepting bribe from a mayor in North Sumatra who was facing prosecution for a corruption case.

The officer allegedly accepted Rp 1.3 billion from Tanjungbalai Mayor M Syahrial, who came to him asking help to drop a corruption case at the city government, 

KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri said at that time Stepanus shared the ill-gotten money with Maskur. The money was sent through multiple bank transfers – at least 59 times – since October 2020.

Further investigation found that the disgraced  investigator and the lawyer had accepted bribes from numerous people.