Key witness in Indonesia corruption case dies during standoff in US

LOS ANGELES: A man who killed himself during an armed Los Angeles standoff last week was an important witness in a sweeping corruption investigation in Indonesia, according to media reports.

Johannes Marliem, 32, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Los Angeles County Coroner’s spokesman Rayna Hernandez said on Sunday.

Febri Diansyah, a spokesman for the Corruption Eradication Commission in Indonesia, told the Jakarta Post that Marliem died in the United States, but he said he didn’t have details.

Indonesian anti-corruption police allege that a network of about 80 people, mostly politicians, and several companies used the introduction of a US$440mil (RM1.8bil) electronic identity card system to steal more than a third of the allotted funds. Marliem was considered a key witness in the case.

The scandal engulfed the speaker of Indonesia’s parliament, once hailed by President Donald Trump as one of Indonesia’s most powerful men.

Setya Novanto told a televised news conference last Tuesday he would respect the legal process, but that there was no truth to the accu- sation that he stole more than US$40mil (RM171mil).

Los Angeles SWAT officers found Marliem’s body inside his home around 2am on Thursday after he held police at bay for more than nine hours.

A woman and child left the house unharmed after the standoff began on Wednesday evening. Police didn’t confirm whether they were Marliem’s wife and child.

The FBI served a federal warrant at Marliem’s home last week.

Marliem claimed to have a recording of the conversations he had with politicians who allegedly orchestrated the identity card scheme, the Jakarta Post reported.

He was director of Biomorf Lone, a US-based company awarded the project to procure an automated fingerprint system for the electronic identity programme.— AP