West Papua Police name two suspects in Rp4.297 billion Bawaslu Pegaf grant corruption
Manokwari (ANTARA) - The Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimsus) of the West Papua Regional Police (Polda Papua Barat) has named two suspects in a case of alleged corruption involving grant funds to the Pegunungan Arfak Regency Bawaslu, totalling Rp4.297 billion.
Sub-director III of Tipidkor Ditreskrimsus Polda Papua Barat, AKBP Rangga Abhiyasa, in Manokwari on Friday, said the suspects are JPR, the Secretary of Bawaslu Pegaf or a government official in charge of commitments (PPK), and MY, the treasurer.
He said the total grant funds for election monitoring managed by Bawaslu Pegaf (Pegaf) are approximately Rp13.231 billion, of which Rp4.29 billion could not be accounted for.
The funds were allocated by the local regency government across two budget periods for election monitoring activities: 2019-2020 amounting to Rp11 billion and 2021 approximately Rp2.231 billion.
Realisation of grant funds for the 2019-2020 period only reached Rp6.187 billion, leaving a remainder of Rp4.813 billion, but the two suspects did not report to the Chair of Bawaslu Pegaf to be returned to the state treasury.
“From that remaining budget, Rp3.193 billion could not be accounted for by the two suspects,” he said.
He added that the two suspects informed the commissioners of Bawaslu Pegaf that the 2019-2020 grant had been absorbed 100 percent, thereby requesting an additional grant for the 2021 period.
Usage of the second-period grant was recorded at only Rp1.127 billion of the Rp2.231 billion allocated by the regional government, leaving Rp1.104 billion in the budget, but the two suspects did not report it.
“There were surpluses in both the first and second grants, but they were not returned to the state treasury. They exploited them for personal gain,” he said.
Currently, he said, the police have seized several items of evidence obtained from the misuse of the 2024 Pilkada monitoring grant funds, including one plot of land, three buildings, and one four-wheeled vehicle.
The two suspects are charged under Article 2, Paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001, or Article 603 of the Criminal Code, with Article 604 as a subsidiary.
“The evidence seized from suspect JPR includes three buildings and one plot of land, while suspect MY includes one vehicle,” he said.
He acknowledged that handling the case of alleged corruption involving grant funds for Bawaslu Pegaf had taken a long time due to the difficult geographic terrain in gathering documents and evidence.
The investigative team of Tipidkor Ditreskrimsus Polda Papua Barat must ensure that all material and evidence in the case are complete to prevent any loopholes for suspects to file a pre-trial.
“We have conducted investigations with BPKP Papua Barat and interviewed ten witnesses, so we can conclude there are only two suspects,” Rangga said.