Nasrul alleges Rp 4.3b Korpri's funds fraud

JAKARTA (JP): A former executive of the Indonesian Civil Servants' Corps (Korpri) confessed on Tuesday that the organization had misappropriated funds totaling Rp 4.3 billion (approximately US$430,000).

Nasrul Idrus, former head of the social and political division of Korpri's city chapter, said that graft took place between 1997 and 2000.

"The organization's secretary always provided blank receipts that could be used for the spending of the fund for ambiguous activities most of which were marked up," Nasrul told reporters at the City Hall.

Nasrul, whose term of office at the organization's executive board ended last year, revealed that Korpri's city chapter received Rp 1 billion from the city administration in 1997, Rp 900 million in 1998, Rp 3.1 billion in 1999 and 1.2 billion in 2000.

He claimed that only 20 percent of the total Rp 6.2 billion received from 1997 to 2000 was spent properly. The remaining 80 percent was used for "unclear and factious activities".

As an example, the fund was used to support Golkar party's activities, including its general election campaign in 1999, according to Nasrul, a City Hall employee.

Although aided by the Civil Servants' Corps, the former ruling party only secured eight seats at the City Council. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) won 30 seats in the council.

During the reform era, Nasrul said, Korpri used funds to finance unnecessary activities such as an anti-drug seminar for civil servants, a long-distance running competition, and the purchasing of new uniforms for its members.

Nasrul, said the city inspectorate has conducted several investigations over irregularities in the organization but they have not been thoroughly settled.

Meanwhile, Korpri's city chapter deputy chairman Zainal Arifin denied any graft in the organization, saying that the city inspectorate has audited it and found no irregularities.

"We are ready if the prosecutors' office want to question us," Zainal, who is an assistant at the city's administrative office, said on Tuesday.

He pointed out that Nasrul's accusations are based on personal bitterness that stems from the loss of his position at Korpri.

He said that the reorganizing of Korpri's city chapter resulted in the downsizing of the organization, from nine divisions to four divisions

"Three divisions, including the social and political division headed by Nasrul, were abolished to adjust to current changes in the reform era," Zainal claimed.

City Governor Sutiyoso has donated Rp 250 million to a foundation belonging to Korpri's city chapter to support the foundation's activities.

Through a gubernatorial decree, Sutiyoso urged the foundation to use the fund, which is from the 2001 City Budget, to support the administration's programs, especially those geared towards upholding integrity, honesty and responsibility in government.

Korpri's city chapter has been rocked by alleged financial scandals in the past.

The organization's former chairman Irnandi was questioned by state prosecutors last year over his alleged involvement in a land appropriation deal in Bogor in 1998 worth Rp 11 billion.

The state prosecutors' office has yet to complete the investigation. (jun)