Bribery probe hammers shares of Indonesian property firm Agung Podomoro

Shares in property developer PT Agung Podomoro Land Tbk plunged 10 percent on Monday, after Indonesia’s anti-graft agency launched an investigation that raised concerns that a multi-billion-dollar project could be delayed.

Ariesman Widjaja, the firm’s chief executive officer, is suspected of bribing a member of the Jakarta provincial assembly to influence the regulation for a land reclamation, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said in a statement dated Friday.

The anti-graft agency said it had caught the Jakarta official receiving 1.14 billion rupiah ($86,725) in cash from an Agung Podomoro employee at a shopping mall a day earlier.

Agung Podomoro has plans for a project called Pluit City, which is estimated to be worth billion of dollars, on the northern coast of the Indonesian capital.

The firm issued a statement late on Friday acknowledging that KPK had named Widjaja as a suspect, but gave no other details. The company’s directors and legal team are studying the case and are committed to obey the law, it added.

Widjaja could not be reached for comment.

Agung Podomoro Director Cesar M. Dela Cruz declined to comment.

Agung Podomoro shares plunged as much as 10 percent after the market opened on Monday, hitting their lowest in more than four months. The broader Jakarta stock exchange was up 0.1 percent.

With Agung Podomoro “on the hot seat”, the company’s mega project may be delayed indefinitely, broker Trimegah Securities said.