Village Fund Corruption, Village Secretary In South Aceh Threatened 20 Years In Prison

JAKARTA - The secretary of Paya Peulumat Village, South Aceh Regency with the initials MZ (50) was detained by the local police. MZ as a civil servant who lives in Gampong Tengah Baru Village, Labuhan Haji District is suspected of having committed a criminal act of corruption in village funds in 2017.

"Our suspects are detained because they are suspected of committing a criminal act of corruption that caused state financial losses of more than Rp290 million, in 2017," South Aceh Police Chief AKBP Ardanto Nugroho told reporters, as reported by Antara, Tuesday, November 17.

Apart from detaining MZ, the police also secured a number of pieces of evidence. Among them are two-stage village fund financial accountability reports, a general cash book, print out of village accounts, and financial withdrawal giro slips.

The police began investigating this case since June 2020 after it was previously reported by the community regarding alleged corruption related to village fund management in 2017 in Paya Peulumat Village, Labuhan Haji Timur District, South Aceh Regency.

In 2017, the government allocated a budget of IDR 1,011,424,019 which was sourced from the State Budget (APBN) and the Regency Budget (APBK).

Then the funds were withdrawn in the first stage amounting to Rp580,247,500 and the second stage amounting to Rp431,176,519.

Based on the results of investigations carried out by the police, the village funds that have been withdrawn are suspected of illegal acts allegedly committed by the village head and the village secretary, by using village funds for personal gain, then making village financial accountability incompatible with the use.

From the results of the investigation, said Chief of Police AKBP Ardanto Nugroho, investigators had obtained three valid evidence, namely witness statements, expert statements and also reports on the results of the audit of state financial losses which stated that it was suspected that criminal acts of corruption had occurred against the management of funds in Paya Peulumat Village, District Labuhan Haji Timur, South Aceh Regency, Aceh Province in 2017.

The funds were allegedly used for personal interests and the suspect MZ and other people to the village who had passed away were suspected of having participated in abusing their authority and position by making an accountability report (LPJ) allegedly not in accordance with the actual situation.

"The forms of alleged corruption that we find in this case include some activities that have not been realized or are suspected of being fictitious, overpaid work in the field of development implementation, and unpaid wages / honoraria," he added.

Not only that, investigators also found that official travel expenditure payments were not supported by complete and valid evidence, then the payment of fees for village financial system training resource persons (siskeudes) exceeded the stipulated costs, and the village allegedly had not paid state and local taxes. .

The consequences of the perpetrator's actions were alleged to have caused or incurred state financial losses amounting to Rp290,907,173, he emphasized.

In this case, suspect MZ is suspected of being Article 2 Paragraph (1) Juncto Article 3 Juncto Article 18 Paragraph (1) letters a and b of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999, as amended by Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 20 of 2001 regarding the Eradication of Corruption in Jo article 55 Paragraph (1) 1e of the Criminal Code, with a maximum imprisonment of 20 years and a maximum fine of Rp1 billion, said South Aceh Police Chief AKBP Ardanto Nugroho emphasized.