TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - THE Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) must get to the bottom of the alleged gratification taken by a customs directorate-general official. The case being handled by the police also involves a previous offender. The KPK should not hesitate to act as soon as it gets hold of strong evidence.
The case came to light after the suspicious funds were detected in the accounts belonging to Ahmad Dedi, head of the East Jakarta district customs department. Ahmad, who previously served as the head of the customs supervision and services in the Marunda branch, Jakarta, is alleged to possess Rp31.6 billion scattered in accounts under the names of his family members. The amount raised eyebrows given his status as a lowly echelon III officer.
KPK investigators need to promptly coordinate with the national police's criminal detective unit investigating the case. The police's handling of the case is puzzling as they failed to name any suspect even after a lengthy investigation. As of now, Ahmad Dedi is still a witness.
This is not the first time Ahmad's name turned up in a corruption scandal. He was previously implicated in the smuggling of 36 truckloads of hard liquor in 2015. The customs directorate-general that time seized scores of trucks but the legal process into the felony that caused Rp52 billion in state losses was somehow shelved.
The customs directorate-general is indeed infamous for its susceptibility to bribes. The past two years saw a total of 179 cases of misuse by the customs staff members in various regions. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has launched reform initiatives in the institution consisting of service speed and quality improvement, an employee monitoring system as well as sanctions against delinquent employees. But these initiatives apparently are yet to bear fruit.
This situation calls for the role of the law-enforcement authorities as it is critical to eradicate corrupt practices in the institution that generates a huge sum of state revenues. The need is also urgent given that the institution failed to reach targeted revenues in the past few years. It only achieved 92.5 percent of its goal in 2015 and Rp183.9 trillion, or 97.15 percent, of the target last year. For this year, the revenues earned as of May was only 45.5 percent of the Rp191.23 trillion target.
The alleged graft in imported beef being handled by the KPK and the subsequent trial of Basuki Hariman indicted for bribing the constitutional judge, Patrialis Akbar, shed light on how rampant corruption at this institution still is. The KPK has already investigated several customs officials to unravel the case.
It was during the wiretapping of the beef smuggling case that the KPK stumbled upon evidence pointing to another crime: bribing the constitutional judge. Ironically, this new case was tried and perpetrators were convicted while the beef smuggling case still remains under investigation.
The KPK must resolve the beef smuggling case as well as the graft case involving Ahmad Dedi. The government must throw its support behind the KPK and push for firm actions if police are proven to be dragging their feet in Ahmad Dedi’s case. By law, the KPK has the mandate to monitor-or even take over-graft cases being handled by other law-enforcement agencies.
Read the full story in this week’s edition of Tempo English Magazine