Govt officials probed for graft

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