At a luxury house in an affluent area a few hours south of Jakarta, a police officer wearing blue gloves tucks his fingers behind what looks like a wooden wall panel.
He tugs hard on the left side of the panel. It separates from the wall. It’s a door.
It swings open to reveal a safe.
A few people are excited at the discovery and let out small cheers, a video posted on social media showed.
It is unclear at this point if police working on this investigation into alleged corruption know or suspect what lies inside.
A locksmith, called to the house in Bogor, West Java, told local media the safe was expensive and had a good level of security.
Despite that, it only takes him 15 minutes to cut into the safe after breaking the manual lock, DetikNews reported.
Quick work considering the value of the contents inside.
About seven small suitcases are unzipped to reveal wads of cash in multiple currencies worth about $28.5 million.
Gold was found in a hidden safe. (Supplied: Polda Metro Jaya)
But it’s the 74 kilograms of gold bars worth about $14 million that stand out in the photos.
The stash discovered in the secret safe on July 8 is bigger than the amount of gold used for Indonesia’s National Monument, or Monas, a 132-metre obelisk topped by a gold leaf-covered flame in central Jakarta.
According to official records, 72 kilograms of gold was used in the monument.
Reasons why authorities suspicious of gold
In February, local media reported Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) recorded an increase in bribery involving small items that carry high value, including gold.
KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo told the ABC the commission had “observed a tendency for gold to be used as one of the mediums for bribery or gratification in several cases it has handled”.
But he said he couldn’t say that gold was the predominant valuable used for corruption based on just a few ongoing cases.
“The KPK’s view is that every corruption case has its own characteristics, methods, and forms of receiving illicit proceeds,” Mr Prasetyo said in a statement.
Police found seven suitcases containing cash and gold. (Kompas: Ridho Danu Prasetyo)
Gold has also been seized in corruption investigations recently elsewhere around the world.
Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council announced on July 13 that a total of 375 kilograms of gold worth about $70 million had been recovered in relation to a corruption investigation connected to a former deputy minister.
In Thailand, about 320 kilograms of gold bars worth about $60 million were handed to the country’s Ministry of Finance in February, following a tax fraud case court ruling against a former revenue department director-general.
Wana Alamsyah says gold is attractive as its value tends to be relatively stable. (Supplied)
Indonesia’s rupiah has been one of the worst performing currencies against the US dollar this year.
Wana Alamsyah, from advocacy group Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), said this made gold an increasingly attractive investment instrument in the South-East Asian nation.
“Gold is an ideal vehicle for criminals because its value tends to be stable, it is easy to sell, it does not require maintenance costs like property, and ownership is not always formally recorded,” he said.
Corruption cases often involved cash transactions, he said, and cash could be converted into gold, which would become “more difficult to trace”.
Top prosecutor resigns
Febrie Adriansyah was named a suspect in a corruption investigation involving a state-owned company. (Tempo: Martin Yogi Pardamean)
Police in Indonesia are yet to say to whom the gold found at the luxury house in Indonesia belonged.
After police found the stash, Febrie Adriansyah, a top Indonesian prosecutor who had been working on corruption investigations, himself admitted to local media he owned the house with the secret safe.
But Mr Adriansyah denied any wrongdoing and said the gold and cash found in the safe had other “owners”.
“And regarding the money, I have explained what was found, that there is an owner, that there are activities, that there are people who also receive activities, that can also be asked,” he told reporters in Jakarta.
Nonetheless, Mr Adriansyah then resigned from his position as head prosecutor of special crimes in the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), to maintain neutrality amid the police investigation, according to an AGO statement.
Police official Totok Suharyanto then told reporters that Mr Adriansyah was a suspect in an ongoing investigation into alleged extortion, bribery and money laundering linked to a past case the prosecutor had overseen involving state insurer Asabri.
Police put the seized valuables, including the currency and gold, from the hidden safe on display in Jakarta. (Supplied: Ridho Dano Prasetyo/KOMPAS.com)
Mr Adriansyah has not been charged with any offence. The ABC has contacted him for comment.
Police also listed another suspect, identified as DR, who could face multiple money laundering charges, AFP reported.
Before his resignation, Mr Adriansyah led criminal investigations and prosecutions in some high profile cases, including the graft case against startup Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim.
He had also been overseeing a corruption investigation into Indonesia’s National Nutrition Agency, which runs President Prabowo Subianto’s free school meals programme.
Call for KPK to investigate
The high-profile resignation and case have caused a stir in Indonesia and advocates have voiced concerns over the handling of the investigation.
In a media release, advocacy group Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said the case had the “potential to involve conflicts of interest” given Mr Adriansyah’s role within the AGO and the investigation should be run by KPK, not police as is currently the case
ICW explained that when police had done their investigation and it reached the prosecution stage, they would transfer it to prosecutors.
The same office that employed Mr Adriansyah.
“Therefore, it is becoming increasingly urgent for the police to transfer the case to the KPK.”
The Indonesian police have been contacted for comment.
In the meantime, police Senior Commissioner Budi Hermanto told local media that investigators were working to verify the authenticity of the seized cash, which included Indonesian rupiah, US dollars, and Singapore dollars.
Senior Commissioner Budi said police would coordinate with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as the US and Singapore embassies.
The 74 kilograms of gold have been sent to a state-owned bullion bank for forensic testing and valuation, as investigations continue.
ABC/wires