Govt officials probed for graft

JAMBI: The Jambi Prosecutor's Office is investigating a Rp 5 billion (US$500,000) graft case allegedly involving senior officials at the Jambi Religious Affairs Office.

The alleged graft involved the procurement of textbooks and other school materials with money from the 2004 provincial budget.

Jambi Prosecutor's Office chief Hanafi Siregar said three officials had been named as suspects in the case. The three were identified as project leader Kholik, tender committee chief Rachmad and an executive with a company involved in the project, Purnawan. The first two are officials at the Religious Affairs Office.

Prosecutors began investigating the case after discovering the project was carried out without a proper tender.

"The project violated a government regulation that requires any project valued at over Rp 50 million to go through a tender," said Hanafi. -- JP