Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police Raises Status Of Alleged Corruption Case For Procurement Of Azimut Atlantis 43 Cruise Ship

KEDARI - Ditreskrimsus Polda Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra) raised the status of the alleged corruption case related to the procurement of the Azimut Atlantis 43 cruise ship by the Provincial Government (Pemprov) of Southeast Sulawesi.

Director of Special Criminal Investigation (Dirreskrimsus) of the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police Kombes Pol Bambang Wijanarko through Head of Sub-Directorate III of Tipidkor AKBP Ario Putranto Tuhu Mangabdi revealed that the status of this case rose after his party collected sufficient preliminary evidence and received the results of an initial investigative audit from the Southeast Sulawesi representative Audit and Development Agency (BPKP).

"On February 6, the status of this case went up to investigation," said AKBP Ario Putranto Tuhu in his statement, Thursday, February 13.

AKBP Ario Putranto Tuhu added that so far investigators have examined 23 witnesses, and they are currently waiting for a definite calculation of state losses based on the results of an initial investigation audit conducted by BPKP. However, until now, the police have not named a suspect in this case.

"We cannot immediately determine the suspect before there is an audit result that ensures a criminal element, especially the misuse of the budget," he said.

AKBP Ario Putranto Tuhu asked all parties to be patient and ensure that this case would be handled seriously to completion.

The alleged corruption case in the procurement of the Azimut Atlantis 43 cruise ship was previously reported to the Tipidkor Ditreskrimsus Polda Sultra.

The police have begun investigating the alleged mark-up budget carried out by the Southeast Sulawesi Provincial Government in the procurement of the ship, because the specifications of the goods in the auction process won by CV Wahana in 2020 are not in accordance with the procurement results.

In a previous investigation, investigators suspected that the ship that was imported from Singapore via Marunda Customs in 2019 was purchased in used condition, and the ship was detected parked at Pantai Indah Kapuk, an elite residential area in Jakarta.

The procurement of this cruise ship spent a budget of Rp 9.98 billion sourced from the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Budget for the 2020 fiscal year, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The funds were used by the General Bureau of the Southeast Sulawesi Provincial Secretariat.

Meanwhile, the Junior Auditor for the investigation department of the BPKP representative of Southeast Sulawesi, Prian Mardia Kusuma, when confirmed regarding the development of the corruption case in the procurement of cruise ships, was reluctant to provide further response.