Central Kalimantan High Prosecutor's Office Names Five East Kotawaringin KPU Commissioners as Suspects

The Central Kalimantan High Prosecutor’s Office has named five commissioners of the East Kotawaringin General Elections Commission as suspects in a case of alleged irregularities in the use of grant funds for the organisation of the 2024 Regional Elections. “Based on the results of the examination and the evidence obtained, investigators have named five people as suspects in the case of alleged irregularities in the use of grant funds for the East Kotawaringin Regional Elections for the 2023-2024 fiscal year,” said Central Kalimantan High Prosecutor’s Office Intelligence Assistant Hendri Hanafi in Palangka Raya on Thursday. The five suspects are MR, the Chair of the East Kotawaringin KPU and Head of the Finance, General Affairs, Household and Logistics Division; W, the Head of the Socialisation, Voter Education, Community Participation and Human Resources Division; and three other commissioners. “The grant funds received by the East Kotawaringin KPU came from the East Kotawaringin Regency Budget, totalling Rp40 billion, consisting of Rp16 billion in 2023 and Rp24 billion in 2024, in accordance with the Regional Grant Agreement,” he said. Hendri explained that investigators found the suspects allegedly jointly abused their authority in using the grant funds, which were not in accordance with the provisions of the Regional Grant Agreement or the Budget Plan attached to the agreement. During the investigation, the Central Kalimantan High Prosecutor’s Office also found evidence of alleged kickbacks or gratuities given to KPU commissioners and other parties related to the use of the grant funds. The suspects are charged under Article 603 in conjunction with Article 604 of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code, in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001, in conjunction with Article 20 letter a of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code. Hendri added that the state financial loss in the case is still being calculated by the Central Kalimantan Representative Office of the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency, with a preliminary estimate of around Rp10 billion.