After Being Questioned By The KPK, Hotma Sitompul Admitted That He Was Going To The Ministry Of Social Affairs

JAKARTA - Attorney Hotma Sitompul admitted that Juliari Batubara asked for help when he was the minister of social affairs in managing social assistance for very poor children.

This was conveyed by Hotma after undergoing examination at the KPK as a witness in the alleged bribery case for social assistance COVID-19 in Jabodetabek.

"So the minister (Juliari Batubara) is very concerned about this case. He was asked to help during this social assistance. I went back and forth at the Ministry of Social Affairs. That's all," said Hotma Sitompul at the KPK, Jakarta, Friday, February 19.

He indirectly denied knowing of the social assistance bribery case. He said, his interest in the Ministry of Social Affairs was solely to help poor underage children.

"I explained it was all in the interests of children under age. Where the minister paid attention to these minors," said Hotma.

Hotma admitted that she wanted to provide assistance because it was related to children. According to him, these children really need special attention.

"This child was actually raped three times, got pregnant because she was raped. She took a small child, killed her, and put her in the tub. So we are asked for her help to pay attention to this child LHB Mawar Sharon," said Hotma.

According to him, the Ministry of Social Affairs provided social assistance to these children. He also justified receiving honorarium for the assistance given. It's just that, he claims, the honorarium given by the Ministry of Social Affairs is not used. But given to the children.

"To be honest, after I finished, I got honorarium of Rp. 5 million, Rp. 3 million, Rp. 2 million for our 3 lawyers, we returned it to the minors," said Hotma.

As for Hotma Sitompul, today was questioned by the KPK for the suspect Matheus Joko Santoso as PPK Bansos. He is a suspect in accepting bribes.

Previously reported, the KPK named a number of suspects in connection with the alleged corruption case of social assistance (bansos) food packages for the handling of COVID-19 in the Greater Jakarta area, including former Social Minister Juliari Batubara.

Apart from Juliari, the KPK also named four other suspects, namely the Commitment Making Officer at the Ministry of Social Affairs (PPK) MJS and AW as the recipient of the bribe and AIM and HS as the giver of the bribe.

This case began when Juliari appointed two commitment-making officials (PPK) Matheus Joko Santoso and Adi to carry out this project by directly appointing partners. The KPK suspects that it was agreed that there was a fee from the work package that partners had to pay to the Ministry of Social Affairs.

As for the fee for each COVID-19 social assistance package that Matheus and Adi agreed to, it was IDR 10,000 from a value of IDR 300 thousand.

Matheus and Adi then made work contracts with several suppliers as partners for providing social assistance in May-November 2020. The partners chosen were AIM, HS, and PT Rajawali Parama Indonesia alias PT RPI which allegedly belonged to Matheus and whose appointment was known to Juliari.

In the first phase of the distribution of social assistance, a fee of IDR 12 billion is suspected. Matheus gave around Rp. 8.2 billion in cash to Juliari through Adi which was then used to meet personal needs.

In this silent operation, the KPK also confiscated evidence in the form of money that had been prepared from the bribes, namely AIM and HS in one of the apartments in Jakarta and Bandung. Rp14.5 billion was kept in a number of suitcases and bags and consisted of rupiah denominations and foreign currency.