Corruption Eradication Commission Search 2 Offices Related To Alleged Bansos Of COVID-19 Social Assistance That Caught Juliari Batubara

KPK Building (VOI)

JAKARTA - The investigation team of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) conducted searches of two company offices suspected of being involved in the COVID-19 social assistance bribery case that ensnared former Social Minister Juliari Peter Batubara.

"Regarding the investigation of alleged corruption at the Ministry of Social Affairs with the suspect JPB (Juliari Peter Batubara) and others, today the KPK investigative team conducted searches in two locations," said Acting KPK spokesman for the field of prosecution Ali Fikri to reporters in a written statement, Monday, January 11.

The two company offices that were ransacked were the PT Mesail Cahaya Berkat office located on Jalan Letjend S. Parman Kavling 28 and the PT Junatama Foodia office at the TB Simatupang Metropolitan Tower, Jalan RA Kartini, 13th floor.

"Until now, the search is still ongoing and we will inform you of its progress," he said.

In this case, 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 Jabodetabek area including the non-active 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 recipients of bribes and AIM and HS as the givers of bribes.

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.

Meanwhile, the fee for each COVID-19 social assistance package agreed by Matheus and Adi is IDR 10,000 from a value of IDR 300,000.

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.