Police to quiz 200 subdistrict heads on corruption

Police to quiz 200 subdistrict heads on corruption

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The Muna Police in Southeast Sulawesi have questioned 75
subdistrict heads in Muna regency, Southeast Sulawesi province,
over a Rp 1 billion (US$125,000) corruption case allegedly
involving a high-ranking official.

The 75 subdistrict heads were questioned as witnesses in the
case, which centers on the disbursement of refugee funds last
year.

"An official was named a suspect after the questioning," the
chief of the Muna Police, Alimuddin T, was quoted as saying by
Antara news agency on Saturday.

Alimuddin was referring to a high-ranking official in the
Social Affairs Office at the Muna regency administration.

He said the police hoped to question 125 more subdistrict
heads to shed more light on the case.

He said it was possible more officials would be named suspects
after all 200 subdistrict heads in the regency had been
questioned.

The alleged corruption case was brought to light after recent
reports suggested that many refugees from Ambon, North Maluku and
Poso, Central Sulawesi, never received money set aside for them
by the central government last year.

The central government allocated Rp 13 billion ($1,625,000)
last year to help the Muna regency administration feed and house
the refugees.

The refugees were fleeing sectarian violence in Maluku and
Poso which left thousands of people dead and forced hundreds of
thousands of residents to seek refuge.

According to the aid scheme, subdistrict heads and officials
from the Social Affairs Office in Muna were responsible for
distributing money for the refugees.

The aid scheme suggested that each head of family receive
Rp 1.5 million in credits.

However, many family heads later said they never received any
credits from the government.