Police probe new corruption case

JAKARTA: The National Police anticorruption division is investigating a new graft case at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, involving the markup of the cost of vaccine arrangements and insurance policies for haj pilgrims.

Director of the anticorruption division Brig. Gen. Indarto said on Tuesday that his team had started to investigate the case as it had collected sufficient evidence for a preliminary probe.

"We found a possible markup in the provision of the vaccines used for pilgrims before their pilgrimage, as well as the insurance policies," he said.

However, Indarto refused to disclose the names of officials involved in the case nor the amount of the financial losses suffered by the state.

Currently, the anticorruption division is also investigating the alleged corruption in the management of the haj funds, wherein at least Rp 700 billion (US$70 million) was diverted from bank accounts. -- JP