Graft hits two more councils
Graft hits two more councils
Syofiardi Bachyul and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Padang/Bandung
After the Padang District Court jailed almost all 55 members of
the West Sumatra legislative council last month for corruption,
the provincial police are now investigating a scam allegedly
involving all 24 councillors of Payakumbuh municipality.
The conviction of the 43 councillors in the province has also
created a domino effect in Garut regency, West Java, where
prosecutors are investigating 45 councillors or the entire
regency legislative council in another collective graft case.
Garut Prosecutor's Office head Wenardy Darwis said on Friday
local council speaker Iyos Somantri and his three deputies, Dedei
Suryadi, Encep Mulyana and Mahyar Suara, had been named suspects
in a graft case involving Rp 6.6 billion (US$694,736) from the
2001-2003 budget.
The four were charged because they signed documents that
marked up spending for the Garut council, Darwis added.
He said the remaining 41 members could also be declared
suspects, pending further investigation.
None of the 45 councillors were detained but the prosecution
has begun seizing their personal assets that were not included in
their wealth reports submitted before assuming office.
The confiscated assets would be used as hard evidence for
their alleged role in the scam, Darwis said in the West Java
capital of Bandung.
Meanwhile, West Sumatra Police said on Friday they had
detained Payakumbuh council speaker Chin Star as a suspect in a
graft case, which involved more than Rp 1 billion (105,263) in
allowances paid to councilors out of the municipality's 2003
budget. The money was misappropriated for activities not related
to the legislators' duties.
Chin was arrested on Wednesday night for questioning, West
Sumatra Police chief of detectives Adj. Sr. Comr. Tedjo Sularso
said in the West Sumatra capital, Padang.
"After questioning a number of witnesses, I have decided to
detain him (Chin) for 20 days," he added.
Also named as suspects were the secretary and treasurer of the
Payakumbuh council, but they were not detained by the police. No
reasons for this forthcoming.
Tedjo said Chin had now been charged with embezzling at least
Rp 167 million, and that he could not account for the money as
Payakumbuh council speaker.
The money was suspected to have been misused by Chin to pay
for a pilgrimage to Mecca and a wedding party, the chief of
detectives explained.
Tedjo said that apart from Chin, 23 other councillors would
also be questioned at the provincial police headquarters over
their alleged roles in the suspected collective graft case.
"They will all be summoned, while the Payakumbuh council
secretary and treasurer have both been declared suspects," he
added.
Tedjo said that the 23 councillors could also be charged with
the same graft offenses as Chin, who is also a deputy chairman of
the Payakumbuh branch of the Golkar Party.
He said police investigators had uncovered prima facie
evidence that the councillors had breached Government Regulation
No. 110/2000 on local government finances, and two regulations on
local government budgets issued by the home affairs minister in
1994 and 1996.
"These findings are supported by the results of an
investigation by the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP),"
Tedjo added.
On May 17, the Padang court sentenced West Sumatra council
speaker Arwan Kasri, his two deputies and 40 other councillors to
up to two years and three months in prison for embezzling Rp 6.4
billion from the province's 2002 budget.
All of the 43 persons convicted, out of a 55-strong council,
remain free pending appeal. These were the first convictions for
collective graft involving legislators anywhere in the country.
In a similar case, prosecutors in the West Java city of
Cirebon have charged all 30 members of the local legislative
council as suspects in a graft case. The investigation is still
underway.