Citing Illness, Former Sumbawa Deputy Regent, Suspect in COVID-19 Mask Corruption Case, Skips Questioning
JAKARTA - Former Deputy Regent of Sumbawa, Dewi Noviyani, a suspect in the alleged corruption case surrounding the 2020 COVID-19 mask procurement, did not respond to police investigators' summons for questioning due to illness.
"Mrs. Novi did not attend due to illness. Her attorney delivered the letter directly to the Mataram Police Chief," said First Inspector I Komang Wilandra, Head of the Corruption Crime Unit of the Mataram Police Criminal Investigation Unit, in Mataram on Thursday, as quoted by Antara.
Because the letter was only delivered directly to the Mataram Police Chief today, Wilandra admitted he was not yet aware of Novi's illness.
"We don't know what her illness is yet. However, the letter will definitely be sent to us investigators. Only then will we know what the illness is," he said.
In the letter, Novi also requested that investigators reschedule the questioning.
"Because she is receiving treatment outside the region, she said she can't do it this week. We will reschedule it, and we will probably send a letter next week," he said.
In addition to Dewi Noviyani, he added, the former Head of the West Nusa Tenggara Cooperatives and MSMEs Office, Rabiatul Adawiyah (wife of suspect Wirajaya Kusuma), also requested a postponement of today's examination due to illness.
"Mrs. Adawiyah's reason for not attending today is because she is undergoing chemotherapy. She requested a postponement through her attorney," Wilandra said.
From communication with her attorney, Adawiyah, a suspect in this case, agreed to undergo questioning on Saturday, August 2.
"So, only Mrs. Adawiyah has agreed to reschedule the hearing for this Saturday (August 2)," he said.
Investigators in this case have conducted initial questioning and detained four other suspects.
They underwent questioning and detention in sequence: Wirajaya Kusuma, Kamaruddin, Cholid Tomasoang Bulu, and finally M. Hariyadi Wahyudi.
In handling this case, the police have questioned at least 120 witnesses and experts, and found that the NTB BPKP audit revealed state losses of Rp1.58 billion from a procurement amount of Rp12.3 billion.
In naming the suspects, investigators applied Article 2 paragraph (1) and/or Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) point 1 of the Criminal Code.