Indonesian ex-minister arrested for alleged graft

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Indonesia's anti-graft commission arrested a former sports minister Thursday in connection with a multimillion-dollar corruption case.

Andi Alfian Mallarangeng resigned as youth and sports minister in December when the Corruption Eradication Commission named him a suspect for allegedly mismanaging the construction of a $122 million sports complex in the West Java village of Hambalang.

Mallarangeng, also the ruling Democratic Party's secretary of the board of patrons, was arrested after being questioned for about six hours at the commission's office. He was the first active Cabinet member to be named as a suspect in a corruption case.

A government audit found the project potentially caused up to 463 billion rupiah ($42 million) in losses to the state.

The party's former chairman, Anas Urbaningrum, is also a suspect but has not been arrested.

Urbaningrum, who was elected in 2010 as general chairman of the party, resigned and abandoned the party in February after being named a suspect for allegedly receiving payments in connection with the project. The party's chairmanship was later taken over by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Mallarangeng's arrest came two weeks after the capture of Akil Mochtar, top judge of Indonesia's Constitutional Court, for allegedly accepting bribes in connection with disputed results in a district chief election.

Endemic graft in Indonesia has been blamed for deterring foreign investment, and Transparency International regularly lists the country among the most corrupt nations.