Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi Leaves The KPK Building, Becomes A Suspect In A Bribery Case

Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi wears a KPK prison vest (Wardhani Tsa Tsia/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named Bekasi Mayor, Rahmat Effendi or Kang Pepen as a suspect. This determination was made after he was caught in a sting operation (OTT) in Bekasi, West Java.

According to VOI monitoring, Pepen was seen wearing an orange vest typical of KPK prisoners and his hands were handcuffed. He came down from the examination room at around 17.40 WIB.

Apart from Pepen, eight other suspects were following him behind him. They also appear to be wearing orange vests complete with handcuffs.

In a press conference, KPK Chair Firli Bahuri revealed that his party had named Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi as a suspect. He is suspected of receiving bribes related to the procurement of goods and services as well as the auction of positions in the Bekasi City Government.

"There are nine suspects related to arrests related to alleged receipts made by state officials", Firli told reporters, Thursday, January 6.

He revealed that during a silent operation on Wednesday, January 5, billions of rupiah were found. In addition, hundreds of millions of rupiah were also found today or Thursday, January 6.

Furthermore, these suspects will be detained in several different KPK detention centers. However, before being detained, they will first self-isolate because the COVID-19 pandemic is still happening.

Firli said the detention was carried out for the next 20 days starting from today until January 25.