Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister was named as a suspect in a graft case today, the anti-corruption commission said.

Jero Wacik ( right ) is the latest of a series of high-ranking officials to be embroiled in a corruption case.

“A letter ordering an investigation was issued on Sept 2 and his status has been updated to that of a suspect,” said Zulkarnain, a deputy at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Zulkarnain did not give any details on the case.

KPK commissioner Bambang Widjojanto was quoted by Detik.com news portal as saying that Jero was accused of having received kickbacks from companies in return for awarding them contracts.     

In June, Constitutional Court chief Akil Mochtar was jailed for life for accepting bribes and engaging in money laundering.

In April, a former head of the country’s energy regulatory body, Rudi Rubiandini, was sentenced to seven years for accepting kickbacks amounting to US$1.5 million from local and foreign oil companies.

Indonesia ranked 114th out of 177 countries in the 2013 corruption perception index released by Transparency International, with number one being perceived as the least corrupt.

- dpa