Fictitious scholarship case uncovered, Aceh Attorney General's Office examines 67 witnesses

Banda Aceh (ANTARA) - The Aceh High Prosecutor’s Office (Kejati Aceh) has examined 67 witnesses in the investigation of alleged corruption in Aceh Government scholarships at the Provincial Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDM) Aceh, with state losses exceeding Rp14 billion.

Head of the Legal Information and Public Relations Section of Kejati Aceh, Ali Rasab Lubis, in Banda Aceh on Wednesday, stated that the witness examinations are being conducted to complete the case files against four suspects.

“Up to now, 67 witnesses have been questioned. These witnesses are related parties in the scholarship distribution, both from BPSDM Aceh and other parties. The number of witnesses may still increase as the investigation process continues,” said Ali.

According to him, the alleged corruption occurred between 2021 and 2024, when the Aceh Government allocated a budget for 15 scholarship programmes distributed through BPSDM.

“From these 15 programmes, there are scholarships for S2 and S3 levels, both domestic and abroad. The total disbursement for foreign universities exceeds Rp26 billion,” he said.

Ali stated that the management and distribution of scholarships that were allegedly not real and fictitious resulted in state losses of more than Rp14 billion. From that amount, investigators have seized Rp1.88 billion.

“The investigation is still ongoing. It is not ruled out that there will be new suspects if new evidence is found. We also urge parties who received scholarships and used them not in accordance with their purpose to return them immediately,” said Ali.