Sidoarjo councillors in hot seat over Rp 21b graft charges

ID Nugroho, Sidoarjo, East Java

A prosecutor asserted on Wednesday that all 45 councillors on Sidoarjo regental council could be implicated in graft allegations involving Rp 21 billion (US$ 2.2 million).

In a court session here, prosecutor E. Supriehanto said that the councillors had received state money allegedly embezzled by council speaker Ustman Ikhsan, who was being prosecuted as a defendant in the high-profile case.

"Part of the embezzled funds was channeled to the councillors via the defendant," said Supriehanto in the hearing. Ustman is being charged with stealing state money via the creation of fictitious projects such as training seminars, operational assistance programs and charities.

The matter was highlighted after auditors from the Sidoarjo Prosecutor's Office discovered financial irregularities in the 2003 regental budget. The report found a markup of Rp 21 billion in funds allocated to support Sidoarjo council's operational activities.

In the indictment, prosecutor Supriehanto explained that the regental council was allocated operational funds of Rp 870 million or only 0.75 percent of the total Sidoarjo regental budget last year, which amounted to Rp 116 billion (US$ 12.2 million).

However, auditors found that the council had used Rp 21 billion in funds for training seminars, operational assistance, a comparative study and other items, according to Supriehanto.

Part of the funds was said to have been used to finance training seminars and an official trip to provinces in Sumatra and elsewhere. The council reported that it spent Rp 900 million on a training seminar at a hotel in Malang, East Java, last year, but the seminar was proven to be fictitious.

Instead of being used to finance the seminar, the money was channeled to the councillors and other parties involved with the fictitious seminar. Council speaker Ustman and his deputy, Imron Syukur, received Rp 17 million each, while 43 other councillors were given Rp 12.5 million each.

Some of the money, some Rp 19 million, was also channeled to employees of the hotel for their collusion in producing bogus receipts.

The council also embezzled money intended for financing a trip to Sumatra. Of the total Rp 580 million in funds earmarked for the trip, Rp 18 million went to the council speaker and Rp 16 million went to the deputy speaker, while 43 other councillors received Rp 13.5 million each.

Deputy speaker Imron Syukur refused to comment on the charges. "We shall read and observe the prosecutor's indictment before we make a move," he told The Jakarta Post.

Asked whether councillors other than Ustman might also be charged with involvement in corruption, prosecutor Supriehanto said that the Sidoarjo Prosecutor's Office was looking into the case. The court hearing would be adjourned until next week.

Ustman's lawyer Bramta J. Ketaren previously stated that his client had not done anything wrong, saying that it was an administrative error and not corruption.

Local anticorruption watchdog activist Dandi Sunanto said that the executive might also be implicated in the case. Dandi, from the Upholding Reform Group, argued that it was impossible from a legal standpoint that the Rp 21 billion could be disbursed without the official endorsement of the regent, Win Hendrarso.

If all Sidoarjo councillors are finally taken to court, it will be yet another instance of collective graft involving councillors. Similar allegations have come to light in several provinces, municipalities and regencies in the country in the past month, including in West Sumatra.