Chairman of the Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Agus Rahardjo on July 17 declared House speaker Setya Novanto a suspect in a corruption case.

House speaker Setya Novanto (centre) is a suspect of a corruption case in Indonesia. (Photo: thejakartapost.com)

Novanto, who is also chairman of the Golkar party - the second-biggest political party in the country, was allegedly causing state losses of 2.3 trillion rupiahs (172.8 million USD) during the implementation of a national electronic identity (e-ID) card project, the KPK chairman said.

He added Novanto plays a key role in planning a scheme in the project which gives room for corrupting the funds.

Earlier, two senior officials at the home affairs ministry and two lawmakers were declared suspects in the case.

Indonesia has been striving to fight rampant corruption which has been one of bottlenecks in attracting foreign investment and accelerating development in the nation.

(Source: VNA)