Extortion Practice Found in KPK's Anti-Corruption Prison Explained
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23 June 2023 11:49 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The supervisory board of the Corruption Eradication Commission (Dewas KPK) recently discovered practices of blackmail and extortion within the agency’s detention center. The inquiry into this matter was based on initial rumors of the illegal practice taking place, according to the chairman of the Dewas KPK Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean in a press conference on June 19.
“It is true that the supervisory board members found and exposed cases of extortion inside the KPK detention center. This is why the board reported this to the KPK leader in hopes of following it up with an official investigation into the matter,” said Tumpak.
To date, the investigation to determine the truth behind the alleged illegal practice is still ongoing. How can extortion take place within an agency that is built on the principle against corrupt practices and how was it first discovered? The following is the complete chronology:
Initiated by Supervisory Board Members
After rumors of alleged extortion had taken place in the ecosystem of the anti-graft agency’s detention center, the supervisory board’s team initiated an investigation and eventually exposed that the matter had indeed taken place.
“This was purely the finding of the supervisory board, there were no complaints filed. The prisoners of the KPK detention center were blackmailed,” said one of the Dewas KPK’s members Albertina Ho.
The team’s findings were already handed to the KPK leader on May 16 and are being looked into for criminal aspects regarding the practice. Dewas KPK chair Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean assessed that from this case there were two elements that could be investigated further, namely the alleged violation of ethics and the criminal element.
The Actual Extortion
Albertino Ho believes the money surrounding the blackmailing practice was done through wire transfers, where perpetrators would use a third-party bank account. However, the details of this practice are still kept confidential as it is being investigated for possible criminal offenses.
“We will not transparently elaborate on the practice right now as the supervisory board is limited to ethical violation issues,” said Ho.
Detention Center Guards Involved
KPK deputy chairman Nurul Ghufron said the alleged practice involved employees of the antigraft agency’s detention center guards and maintenance workers. External involvement is still being investigated.
“This is actually happening and involving guards and maintenance workers,” said Ghufron. “But there are also external aspects, which we are still processing.”
