Regent facing jail for corruption

Regent facing jail for corruption

BANDUNG: Prosecutors demanded on Tuesday that Sumedang Regent Misbach be sentenced to 2.5 years in jail for his alleged role in embezzling Rp 3.4 billion of state funds for Golkar's political campaigns.

Chief prosecutor Romly Achfa told the Bandung District Court that the defendant should be declared guilty after evidence proves that he willfully misused taxpayer money from the West Java administration budget for Golkar's political campaigns in the 1990s.

The money was taken from a fund allocated for local development projects in 685 subdistricts in West Java province between 1996 and 1997, Romly said.

"But the defendant ordered the subdistrict administration heads to each transfer Rp 5 million from that fund to his personal bank account for donations to support the election victory of Golkar at the time," he added.

He said some of the money was spent on purchasing some 685 motorcycles for Golkar leaders in each subdistrict. --JP