The Drastic Increase In Nurul Ghufron's Wealth Makes IM57+ Institute Intend To Conduct An Audit

Deputy Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Nurul Ghufron (Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI)

JAKARTA - The increase in the wealth of the Deputy Chair of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Nurul Ghufron has made the Indonesia Calling (IM) 57+ Institute fronted by Novel Baswedan and friends ready to carry out an audit without being paid a dime.

The chairman of the IM 57+ Institute, Praswad Nugraha, said he wanted to conduct an audit of the assets of the KPK leadership so that they could account for their assets. Moreover, Firli Bahuri et al are state administrators.

"As an association that is committed to continuing its contribution to eradicating corruption outside the system, IM57+ Institute is ready to conduct an audit of the assets of the KPK leadership without paying a penny," Praswad said in a written statement.

Not only that, the audit is important because KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri was once declared to have violated the code of ethics by the KPK Supervisory Board for living a luxurious lifestyle.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairperson of the KPK, Lili Pintauli Siregar, continued Praswad, had also been declared to have violated ethics because he was related to litigants. "For this reason, all forms of increasing wealth must be accountable to the public," he said.

"Moreover, the KPK leadership is a strategic position in eradicating corruption and must be able to provide examples of how these values are applied. This is also to avoid various public speculations that arise from the increase in assets," added Praswad.

For information, Deputy Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Nurul Ghufron was in the spotlight because his wealth had increased dramatically. Based on the State Administrators Wealth Report (LHKPN) submitted to the KPK in 2019, Ghufron's wealth reached Rp9,230,857,661.

However, this figure jumped to Rp4.25 billion in 2020 because his assets reached Rp13,489,250,570.

In the 2019 LHKPN reported last year, Ghufron was recorded as owning 12 plots of land and buildings in Jember, East Java, and South Jakarta with a value of Rp8,220,000,000. In addition, he recorded other assets in the form of transportation equipment and machinery worth Rp472 million as well as other movable assets worth Rp137,977,500.

Ghufron was not listed as having securities at that time but Ghufron recorded cash and cash equivalents of Rp982,880,161. He is also listed as having a debt of Rp582 million.

Meanwhile, in 2020, he was recorded as having assets in the form of 13 lands and buildings worth Rp11,080,000,000. Dozens of lands and buildings belonging to Ghufron are scattered in Jember, East Java, and South Jakarta.

As for transportation equipment, the leader who comes from an academic element is recorded as having one unit of Honda Beat 20212 and Toyota Innova Reborn worth Rp297. Furthermore, Ghufron recorded other movable assets worth Rp162,769,600.

In this latest report, he also reported ownership of securities with a value of Rp500 million and cash and cash equivalents of Rp2,706,880,970. Then, Ghufron also recorded ownership of other assets worth Rp121,600.000 and debts of Rp1,379,000,000.

Ghufron turns money in the property business

The increase in wealth was then responded by Nurul Ghufron. He said that most of his assets were properties and this was what made his assets continue to grow in the LHKPN.

"I need to explain that my assets are mostly land and building properties that I bought from state auctions, usually for objects that have had a third auction or liquidation price so that the purchase price is relatively cheap," explained Ghufron.

After the purchase, Ghufron usually renovates so that the house can be resold or for a boarding house business. He even admitted that he currently has three boarding houses with a total of tens of rooms.

"I am in Jember, I have three boarding houses with a total of about 70 rooms," he said.

This condition has made KPK leaders from academics to register a significant increase in their wealth. According to Ghufron, although his boarding house business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, this still affected the value of his assets.

The reason is that the price of the boarding house he owns has doubled from the first price when he bought it from the auction.

"In this time of COVID, the income is relatively low, but in reporting the LHKPN, I report it not only as the market price of the house, but also as a boarding house whose value can be double the purchase price," he said.

"So the increase in LHKPN is due to the adjustment in the value of the assets," he concluded.