The university student caught naked in a hotel room with the aide of a political party chief during a bribery bust last week was not paid to have sex with him, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
Maharani Suciyono, from Moestopo University in South Jakarta, was only at the hotel to have dinner with Ahmad Fathanah, who was arrested for allegedly receiving a bribe on behalf of his boss, Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, the former head of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), according to her lawyer, Wisnu Wardhana.
“It was just dinner, nothing else,” he said at a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday night.
Maharani, who also spoke to reporters, apologized over the incident.
“I apologize to my parents and those around me,” she said.
“I’m very shaken by it all. Honestly I don’t know how I can deal with this.”
She also acknowledged that her apology would probably not be enough to clear speculation that she was paid to provide sexual services for Ahmad as part of the alleged bribe package.
Maharani admitted to receiving Rp 10 million ($1,030) from Ahmad, but described it as “introduction money.”
“The money was just a gift from Ahmad who wanted to get to know her. It wasn’t a fee as was widely reported,” Wisnu said.
“All she knew was that the money was a gift from a person who wanted to get to know her and she considered that normal. She didn’t even know the exact amount of the money. She just wanted to know if the money was authentic or not.”
Maharani added the offer was too tempting to turn down, and claimed she had no idea about where the money came from or the graft case related to it.
She claimed that she was surprised when Ahmad presented her with so much money and asked what it was for.
She also said she met Ahmad while hanging out at a mall with her friends.
“I was trying not to be skeptical about him because I didn’t want people to call me arrogant if someone wanted to get to know me. I see nothing wrong with that. He wanted to meet and I said yes,” she said.
“He told me that his name was Ahmad Fathanah and that he was a businessman. He never mentioned whether he was married or not.”
Maharani claimed that after chatting and receiving the money, the two went their separate ways, but KPK apprehended him shortly afterward.
However, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) says its investigators caught Ahmad and Maharani naked together in a room at Le Meridien Hotel in South Jakarta on Jan. 29.
Ahmad was said to have received Rp 1 billion ($103,000) from officials at a meat-importing company to give to Luthfi in exchange for steering government contracts for beef imports.
Student Denies Being Paid for Sex With Luthfi Aide | The Jakarta Globe