City Hall recovers Rp 350m of embezzled funds

JAKARTA (JP): The city's inspectorate office has managed to recover Rp 350 million after a thorough investigation of the loss of Rp 16 billion (US$2.13 million) in funds designated for the maintenance of official vehicles, a senior official said on Friday.

Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi said that reports from the inspectorate office indicate that the funds were embezzled mostly by officials from the city's supplies office.

"For instance, the inspectorate office discovered data about the disbursement of funds for the procurement of supplies, even though in reality the office never purchased the supplies," Abdul said, without elaborating.

The Rp 16 billion in losses accounted for 43 percent of the total Rp 37.41 billion allocated by the city for the maintenance of its official vehicles in the first eight months of this fiscal year.

According to data from the supplies office, the actual number of official vehicles, as revealed by ownership documents, is only 3,873, far below the figure of 6,797 that was reported for budget calculations.

Abdul added that he has given the inspectorate office 10 days to uncover the exact amount embezzled and the names of the people involved in the case.

"The inspectorate office is currently investigating a total of 104 cases of malfeasance in the supplies office. The office has until Dec. 14 to finish their investigations," Abdul said.

Meanwhile, a noted lawyer of the Legal Aid Institute underlined on Thursday the importance of legally investigating alleged corruption.

Apong Herlina, chairperson of the Jakarta branch of the legal institute, said that the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office should not wait until the administration reports a case of corruption to begin an investigation, because corruption is not an offense which requires a complaint before an investigation can be launched.

She said that to investigate the case there was no need for the office to receive the approval of the governor. "Everybody is equal before the law if they are involved in criminal acts. The governor's permit is needed only if it deals with administrative violations," she said.

The head of the Indonesian Democratic Party's faction on the City Council, Lukman Mokoginta, and Golkar faction chief Fatommy Asaari agreed with Apong's statements, reiterating that the case was obviously one of corruption.

Lukman, however, said that the prosecutor's office should wait until the administration has finished collecting information on the case before they begin any investigation.

"The prosecutor's office should wait to receive the completed information, which will come from the results of the administration's investigation," he said.

Lukman also said that it was the governor, who in his capacity as budget executor, who should be held responsible for any wrongdoing.

"The governor should take responsibility during a plenary budget meeting with members of the City Council," he said.

Fatommy believes that the budget losses could be even larger than the ones revealed to the public, because not all employees who use the official vehicles ever received the maintenance funds allocated by the administration.

"I myself, for instance, never received the funds for the maintenance of my official car. I only received the monthly fund for fuel," he said.

He also said that the administration should immediately cut adjust the budget to reflect the actual number of official vehicles.

"Such an action is essential, as other departments, like those providing social safety nets, still badly need funds," he said. (ind/ylt)