A Number Of Heads Of Village In West Aceh Suspected Of Corruption In Village Funds Of Rp. 15 Billion
JAKARTA - A number of village heads spread across a number of villages in West Aceh District are now indicated to have committed a criminal act of village fund corruption with a total loss of more than Rp15 billion in state finances.
"The disclosure of this case after the local government followed up on reports from the community regarding information on misappropriation of village funds by village heads," said West Aceh Regent Haji Ramli MS in Meulaboh, quoted by Antara, Monday, January 18.
The allegation of corruption was revealed after the financial auditor of the West Aceh District Inspectorate conducted an audit of village funds that had been disbursed by the government from 2017 to 2020.
The form of the alleged corruption, said Ramli MS, was allegedly varied, such as misappropriation of the budget, fictitious activities, and allegations of other legal violations.
In order to follow up on the Rp15 billion corruption case, the West Aceh District Government has submitted the findings to the police and prosecutors in this area.
This is intended so that state finances that are alleged to have been misused by village officials in West Aceh, so that they can be returned to the state treasury, and the perpetrators receive sanctions in accordance with the applicable law.
"We hope that Mr. Kajar and the West Aceh Police Chief do not hesitate to investigate this case. I am sure and believe that law enforcement against the alleged corruption of village funds will be resolved," he emphasized.
He also admitted that the regional government was forced to hand over cases of suspected corruption of village funds to law enforcement officials, because some village officials who were suspected of diverting village funds according to the findings of the West Aceh Inspectorate audit did not want to return the state financial losses according to the audit results.
"Because these village officials do not have the good faith to recover state losses, we are forced to hand over the alleged corruption case to law enforcement officials," said Regent Ramli MS.