Bureaucrat flees with Rp 1.5b of state funds

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Police are hunting a financial controller from the North Sumatra administration for allegedly stealing money from the budget, officials have announced.

Nurintan, 42, allegedly disappeared with Rp 1.5 billion (US$176,470) from the province's 2003 budget, administration spokesman Eddy Sofyan said on Thursday.

The case surfaced on Nov. 19 after a project coordinator with the social affairs bureau, Hasbullah, asked Nurintan to disburse aid funds for flood victims.

But the suspect ignored the request and one day later she failed to show up at her office, Eddy added.

He said he had tried to contact Nurintan through her family on Jl. Bajak V in Medan, the provincial capital, but her husband claimed he had not seen her since Nov. 20.

Eddy said his office had given until Dec. 7 for the suspect's family to return the stolen funds. However, her family said they could not afford to repay the money because it was too large a sum.

The local administration has suspended Nurintan as a civil servant, stopped paying her monthly salary, seized her assets and informed police.

"We reported the embezzlement case to police on Wednesday night. We hope the police will immediately arrest her," Eddy told reporters at the gubernatorial office.

The police have named Nurintan a suspect and are searching for her.

Muhammad Hasbi Nasution, social affairs bureau head at the administration, said social development funds under Nurintan's control between Jan. 1 and Nov. 19 amounted to more than Rp 3.4 billion.

He said Nurintan had performed well as was never reprimanded for any offense before she was allegedly involved in the graft case.

"I hope she will surrender soon to the police," Hasbi said.