Indonesia's energy minister named suspect in graft case

JAKARTA - Indonesia's powerful anti-corruption agency on Wednesday named the energy and mineral resources minister as a suspect in a graft case involving the extortion of state funds.

Jero Wacik is the third minister in the cabinet of outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to be implicated in a high-profile corruption scandal. "We have issued a letter on Sept. 2 that raises the status to suspect of JW (Jero Wacik) from the energy and mineral resources ministry," Zulkarnain, deputy commissioner of the corruption eradication commission (KPK), told reporters.

Earlier this year, the religious affairs minister was named as a suspect in a case involving state funds allocated for the haj pilgrimage, while in 2012, the sports minister was forced to step down after being implicated in a graft case over the construction of a sports complex.