Revealed! Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi's Property, Whose OTT KPK Was Dropped During The Pandemic, Is Suspected To Be Due To A Debt Of Rp. 1.5 Billion

Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi (center) is disabled when he is arrested by KPK officers in Jakarta (Photo: Antara Doc)

JAKARTA - The arrest of the inactive Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi in the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) hand arrest operation has raised concerns from many parties. The reason is, this incident extends the list of regional heads who have to deal with the KPK over alleged corruption cases.

From the editorial review, Rahmat Effendi is not a new person at the helm of Bekasi City. He is noted to have occupied the executive chair since 2008 when he served as deputy mayor.

Consistently, the rupiah coffers he has earned are in an increasing trend. This can be seen from Rahmat Effendi's report in the Announcement of State Administrators' Assets as required as public officials.

One thing that is interesting is when there is a transition from the pre-pandemic to the pandemic period, or to be precise from 2019 to 2020.

It is known that the politician who is familiarly called Pepen in 2019 had a total asset of Rp. 7.43 billion. The figure is spread in various forms of wealth. Meanwhile, the biggest ones are in the form of land and buildings worth Rp6.34 billion which are located in a number of areas, such as Bekasi, Bogor, and Subang.

Then, Pepen is also recorded as having two vehicles worth Rp. 405 million, other movable assets of Rp. 170 million, and cash and cash equivalents of Rp. 509.92 million.

A year later, in the 2020 State Administrators Wealth Report (LHKPN) which was submitted on February 18, 2021, it was known that Rahmat Effendi's assets were only Rp. 6.38 billion. This means that in about 12 months in 2020, Pepen's wealth has collapsed more than Rp. 1 billion.

Investigate a calibaration, the erosion of Rahmat Effendi's pocket was caused by a debt book of Rp. 1.55 billion that he made during the last pandemic.

Just so you know, Pepen's assets actually increased thanks to the additional collection of two cars to a total of IDR 810 million. In addition, cash and cash equivalents also grew to Rp610.91 million. But unfortunately, the significant debt burden makes the inactive Bekasi Mayor's wealth have to decline in 2020.