Situbondo Prosecutor's Office Uncovers Modus Operandi in Rp1.5 Billion Village Credit Corruption Case

The Situbondo District Prosecutor’s Office has revealed the modus operandi behind an alleged corruption case involving the misuse of the Rural General Credit (Kupedes) programme at Unit Situbondo I. The scheme involved borrowing the names of individuals to act as debtors. The head of the Situbondo District Prosecutor’s Office, Frendra AH, stated that the suspect identified as VAR, a Mantri (loan officer) at Unit Situbondo I during 2023-2024, collaborated with another suspect, F, who is a BRILink agent. Together, they sought out prospective debtors, including those who were merely asked to lend their names in exchange for a certain reward. Frendra explained that suspect F instructed another suspect, Y, to find these prospective debtors and collect their application documents. They then created the impression that these individuals had viable businesses to qualify for the credit. Suspect VAR subsequently submitted these documents and conducted direct assessments without genuinely analysing the prospective debtors’ business conditions. The manipulated data was entered into the BRISPOT application to appear as if the loan applications were legitimate. The total amount of loans approved and disbursed reached Rp1.53 billion. Upon disbursement, the debtors were directed to confirm the loan data, but the funds were largely not used for their stated purposes. Instead, the money was mostly controlled by VAR and F, who took possession of the debtors’ ATM cards and passbooks. Based on the investigation, VAR and F are believed to have misappropriated Rp889 million, while suspect Y received Rp118 million. The three suspects are charged under Article 2, paragraph (1), in conjunction with Article 18, paragraph (1), letters a and b, and paragraph (2) of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption, as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001, in conjunction with Article 55, paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code. The investigation is ongoing, with prosecutors continuing to develop the case and trace the flow of funds. The head of the prosecutor’s office urged all witnesses involved to cooperate fully with the investigation and not to obstruct the legal process.