Anti-graft Agency Names Tasikmalaya Mayor Corruption Suspect
Translator
Laila Afifa
Editor
Laila Afifa
Kamis, 25 April 2019 07:49 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chief Basaria Panjaitan has confirmed that her agency had named Tasikmalaya Mayor Budi Budiman a suspect in a corruption case.
“Yes, correct,” said the KPK deputy chief through a text message on Wednesday, April 24. However, Basaria was reluctant to expose the case entangling the United Development Party ( PPP) politician.
The anti-graft agency raided the Tasikmalaya Mayor's office on Wednesday morning. KPK spokesman Febri Diyansyah said that based on the raid done at the second floor of Tasikmalaya City Hall and Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency, they seized several documents related to the discussion on the city's regional budget.
But he did not willing to explain on Budi's legal status and the case entangling him. “I can yet to confirm,” said Febri.
Prior to the raid, Budi was mentioned in an alleged bribery case of regional fiscal balance transfer in the draft state budget 2018. He was examined on August 14, 2018, as a witness to the suspect of the case; head of housing and settlement area funding section at Finance Ministry Yaya Purnomo.
On February 14, 2019, the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Yaya to 6.5 years imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rp200 million with a subsidiary of 1 year and 15 days in jail. Yaya was proven to have received a bribe of Rp300 million and graft worth Rp6.5 billion, US$55,000, and Sin$325,000. The money was related to the fund of special allocation (DAK) and regional incentive (DID) in the state budget of 2016 until 2018, originally allocated to nine regencies and cities.
One of the cities was Tasikmalaya; for its DAK and DID of 2018 state budget. To manage the fund, Mayor Budi Budiman spent Rp700 million to be granted to Yaya and the other two people who helped manage the fund for Tasikmalaya. The two people were the head of non-physical DAK management at the finance ministry, Rifa Surya and Puji Suhartono, an auditor at Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) who is also a deputy treasurer at PPP.
M Rosseno Aji
