Covid Social Aid Bribery Case:Juliari Batubara's Staff, Aide to Testify in Court
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15 March 2021 11:53 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will call in two witnesses in the Covid-19 social assistance corruption trial. The two witnesses are the former expert staff to the Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara, Kukuh Ary Wibowo, and Juliari's former aide, Eko.
They will testify in the trial of defendants Harry van Sidabukke and Ardian Iskandar Maddanatja.
KPK spokesman Ali Fikri said on Monday that today's trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court will begin with hearing the testimonies of two former commitment-making officials, Adi Wahyono and Matheus Joko Santoso.
Adi and Matheus were appointed by Juliari. Together with Juliari, the two have been named as suspects for accepting bribes.
KPK indicted Harry and Ardian of bribing Juliari so they would be elected as the procurer of the Covid-19 social assistance package. Harry is accused of paying Rp1.28 billion in exchange for providing 1.5 million packages, while Ardian was charged with securing 115,000 packages.
The KPK also accuses Juliari Batubara with ordering his men to charge Rp10,000 of a committed fee per package of social assistance. Juliari is also suspected of telling his men to charge operational fees from businesses that were given Covid-19 social assistance.
Read: Covid-19 Vaccination for Prisoners Sparks Questions; KPK Explains
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