Vice regent interrogated over graft
Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung
A team of investigators questioned the vice regent of Way Kanan, Lampung province, on Monday on suspicion of graft involving Rp 556 million (US$62,000).
The team from the Blambangan Umpu Prosecutor's Office named Vice Regent Marsidi Hasan a suspect in the case after interrogating him and 12 witnesses.
Besides Marsidi, the head of the development body of the Way Kanan administration, Haris Fadilah, and Raden Arianto, a private sector employee, were also named as suspects in the misuse of funds from the Medicine Procurement and Basic Health Service Program at the local health office in 2001.
Raden Arianto was detained at the Kotabumi Penitentiary in North Lampung for two months.
During questioning, Marsidi was asked to clarify why he appointed the firm CV 939, which is not certified or qualified as a medicine procurement company, to oversee the program. He was also asked about alleged markups in the procurement of medicine by him, in cooperation with the company.
After questioning Marsidi and other witnesses, prosecutors concluded that the state may have suffered losses of Rp 556 million from the allotted program budget of Rp 804 million.
Marsidi told reporters that he was dumbfounded at being interrogated as a suspect because he had never been questioned or received any summons previously.
Regarding Haris Fadilah, prosecutors said he had been detained for a month, but due to illness was released and treated at the Ryacudu Hospital in Kotabumi, North Lampung, and the Abdul Moeloek Hospital in Bandar Lampung.
The head of the Blambangan Umpu Prosecutor's Office, A. Rusydi Nour, also said that because Raden Arianto was suffering from depression, his status had been changed to city arrest in April.
"The investigation is not over. There are many steps to complete, starting with questioning suspects, examinations by the State Audit Board and questioning more witnesses," Rusydi said.
He said the misappropriated funds were from the program's 2001 added-cost budget, and that a truckload of medicine from the health office's warehouse had been seized as evidence in the case.
He added that the names of witnesses and a decision on the status of the suspects would not be released because it could hamper the examination of other witnesses. The prosecutor's office will provide more information once the investigation is complete, he added.
The investigation of the vice regent comes at the height of nationwide investigations into allegedly corrupt local governments and councillors.
Over the last several months, prosecutors in several provinces have been investigating graft cases involving councillors and government officials, including in West Sumatra and West Java provinces.
In one case, the investigations resulted in a verdict by a district court in West Sumatra that sent dozens of councillors to jail for graft. The councillors have appealed the verdict.