Former chief of Yogyakarta social affairs office faces corruption charges
Former chief of Yogyakarta social affairs office faces corruption charges
Sri Wayuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
A former head of the Yogyakarta provincial social affairs office is facing charges of illegally selling state property during his tenure, causing losses to the state of more than Rp 310 billion.
The trial of Suyitno began on Wednesday at the Yogyakarta District Court and is being presided over by chief judge Soemilah.
In a nine-page statement read out during the trial, prosecutor Kamari accused Suyitno of unlawfully selling at least 21 motorcycles and cars belonging to his already-liquidated office.
The sales were allegedly conducted through three illegal auctions held on Jan. 15, 2000, Jan. 28, 2000 and March 6, 2000, at the former social affairs office in the Bantul district, Kamari added.
He said the social affairs office auctioned eleven motorcycles, eight vans, one truck and one minibus. The sales were apparently designed to write off the vehicles.
"The defendant's act has caused financial losses of around Rp 313 billion to the state," Kamari told the court hearing.
He said the auctions were illegal and not transparent because they were held in violation of a decree issued by the Ministry of Finance regulating proper procedures on the auctioning and write- off of state property.
The prosecutor said the defendant lied to the secretary general of the social affairs ministry when he proposed a plan to write off the vehicles, claiming they were mostly malfunctioning and could no longer be repaired.
"In fact, they (the vehicles) were still able to operate well," he said, adding that Suyitno failed to prove his claims.
Kamari also said the defendant had sold the vehicles for more than the market price but did not report the total amount of the sales to his office, and instead corruptly took some of the money.
The prosecutor, therefore, accused Suyitno of violating corruption laws, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.
The trial was adjourned until next week to hear arguments from the defendant's lawyers Setyohardjo, Sri Suyati and Mulyadi of the Yogyakarta-based Setyohardjo Law Office.
The Yogyakarta District Court was also trying two similar corruption cases involving the former head of the province's cooperatives office, Syahbenol Hasibuan, and the former head of the local industry and trade office, Moesono.