Singkawang Prosecutor Detains EP, Corruption Suspect Non-Cash Food Aid

Illustration - Distribution of BLT cooking oil and BPNT. ANTARA/Aris Wasita

KALBAR - The Singkawang District Prosecutor's Office, West Kalimantan, has detained a man with the initials EP who is suspected of being the perpetrator of a corruption case against the Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT) program.

"Based on the results of the examination related to the alleged corruption of the Beneficiary Family program (KPM) of the Singkawang City Social Service, we have examined dozens of witnesses related to the case and named EP as a suspect in this case," said Head of Special Unit for the Singkawang District Prosecutor's Office, Baihaki. Between, Friday, May 20.

His party named EP as a suspect and immediately detained him for the next 20 days and placed him in Singkawang Class II B Prison.

"EP is suspected of being the perpetrator of a criminal act of corruption because it has harmed state finances," he said.

According to him, the determination of EP as a suspect because it is in accordance with two sufficient pieces of evidence. Then, the detention of EP to speed up the investigation and then his party immediately delegated it to the Singkawang District Court.

"This is actually an assistance program from the Ministry of Social Affairs which has been disbursed since November 2018 until now. However, we are taking the case from March 2020 to June 2021," he said.

As for the modus operandi, the suspect as the BPNT City Coordinator in Bukit Batu Village, Central Singkawang District took advantage of the humanitarian program.

"BPNT's assistants consist of regional coordinators, city coordinators and assistants. While these assistants include TKSK," he explained.

For state losses, his party is still calculating, but it is estimated at around Rp. 250 million.

It continues to monitor the progress of the investigation into the case, to ensure that other suspects are involved. If from the development there is evidence that points to other suspects, his party will take action.

"In this case we have examined 23 witnesses," he said. He also emphasized that the Singkawang District Attorney did not sleep with a number of reported corruption cases. Moreover, what EP has done has harmed as many as 8,000-9,000 beneficiary families (KPM).

"Clearly there are advantages that he gets, but we can't reveal everything to the media because this is related to our strategy to reveal it in court," he said.

For his actions, EP will be charged with Article 2 paragraph 1, Article 3 and overlaid with Article 12 e and Article 11 of the Anti-Corruption Law.

"Articles 2 and 3 are related to state losses, Article 12 e is related to extortion and Article 11 is related to gratification," he said.

For Article 2 the threat is a minimum of 4 years and a maximum of 12 years or the death penalty, especially those related to social assistance, while Article 3 is threatened with a minimum of 1 year.