KPK Appoints North Paser Sharpening Regent Abdul Gafur Mas'ud As A Corruption Suspect

KPK press meeting on the determination of the suspect, Regent of North Paser Sharpener Abdul Gafur Mas'ud/PHOTO: Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named North Penajam Paser Regent Abdul Gafur Mas'ud as a corruption suspect on suspicion of bribery in the procurement of goods and services. This decision was made after Abdul Gafur was caught in a sting operation (OTT) on Wednesday, January 12.

VOI monitoring at 22:36 WIB, Abdul Gafur came down from the 3rd floor of the examination room at the KPK Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta. He appears to be wearing an orange vest and his hands are handcuffed.

Apart from Abdul Gafur, there are five other suspects who are also wearing orange vests and handcuffed hands.

Deputy Chairperson of the KPK Alexander Marwata said that 11 people were caught red-handed in Jakarta and East Kalimantan. Of these, 6 people have been named as suspects, including the Regent of North Penajam Paser, Abdul Gafur Mas'ud.

"KPK found sufficient preliminary evidence to increase the status as a suspect," said Alexander at a press conference at the KPK's Red and White Building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Thursday, January 13.

In this case, the KPK also found IDR 1 billion in rupiah denominations and around IDR 400 million in the bank account. Almost all of this money was collected from contractors in the North Penajam Paser area.

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

"For the investigation process, an attempt was made to force detention for the next 20 days starting from January 13 to February 1," said Alexander.

For his actions, Abdul Gafur is suspected of violating Article 12 letter a or Article 12 letter b or Article 11 of Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning Eradication of Acts Criminal Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) 1st of the Criminal Code and Article 12 B of Law Number 31 of 1999.