Ex-deputy governor prosecuted for graft
Ex-deputy governor prosecuted for graft
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
Amid the war against corruption in the province, two former West
Java senior officials are being prosecuted on corruption charges.
On Tuesday, prosectuors called for Ukman Sutaryan, former West
Java deputy governor, to face ten years in prison and a fine of
Rp 30 million over a Rp 17.9 billion corruption case during his
tenure between 1993-1999. Prosecutors also want him to return Rp
28 billion he allegedly acquired illegally to the state.
Meanwhile, prosecutors asked for Ragam Santika, former
secretary of the provincial administration, to be sentenced to
eight years imprisonment and a fine of Rp 25 billion over a Rp 17
billion corruption case between 1994 and 1998, at the Bandung
district court on Feb. 13, 2002.
In court on Tuesday, Basyuni Musyarif of the West Java Chief
Prosecutor's Office said defendant Ukman had to be handed a stiff
sentence because he was found to have abused his power by
embezzling almost Rp 28 billion from the province's budget
between 1993 and 1999.
"The funds were taken from the province's routine spending (Rp
17.6 billion) and development projects (Rp 10.3 billion). The
funds were used to build the Al-Ihsan General Hospital, run the
Al-Ihsan financial institution and a calligraphy workshop, all in
the city, purchase a plot of land in Lembang and buy a Toyota
car," he told the court.
He said the funds were disbursed to the Al-Ihsan Foundation,
which belonged to him, in contravention of official regulations.
According to the prosecutor, the defendant colluded with Ragam
to commit the embezzlement.
Government prosecutor Fadil Jumhana, in Ragam's trial, said
that prosecutors had material evidence that the defendant
embezzled Rp 17 billion from the province's budgetary funds.
He said the defendant had also helped Ukman to take Rp 16
billion from the province's budgetary funds and another Rp 1
billion from the provincial administration's Saung Kadeudeuh
Foundation (YSK) to build the Al-Ihsan General Hospital.
The two defendants conceded that the funds' disbursement
occurred with the approval of the governor, R. Nuariana.
The corruption cases were investigated by the local attorney's
office after mounting pressure from the provincial legislative
council, students, workers and local nongovernmental
organizations.
The local attorney's office has been under fire since it
decided to hold Governor Nuriana as a witness and not as a
suspect. Legislators have demanded that the governor be held
responsible for the embezzlement because he gave his approval to
the funds' disbursement.
In the context of the war against corruption in the province
over the last two years, the chief prosecutor's office has seen
two of its heads, Harprileny and Sudono Iswahyudi, replaced.
The West Java Chief Prosecutor's Office is still
investigating Governor Nuariana over a 15 billion mark-up in the
development of legislators' housing in Cipageran, Cimahi, and
Misbach, former chief of general affairs at the provincial
administration over a Rp 35 billion mark-up in a road repair
project in the province.