The Prosecutor's Office Asks BPKP For Assistance In Auditing The Social Assistance Corruption Case In Mukomuko

Head of Special Operations Unit, Agung Malik Rahman/Photo: Antara

MUKOMUKO - The Mukomuko District Prosecutor, Bengkulu Province asked the Financial and Development Audit Agency (BPKP) for assistance to conduct an audit of the alleged corruption case of the Non-Cash Food Aid (BPNT) budget for the 2019-2021 Fiscal Year, which is currently being investigated by the institution.

"We have sent a letter to BPKP asking them to audit the case of alleged corruption in the BPNT budget," said Head of the Mukomuko District Attorney's Office, Rudi Iskandar, through the Special Specialist Section Head, Malik Rahman Hakim, in Mukomuko, Sunday, June 12.

The local Kejari sent a letter to BPKP to conduct an audit after obtaining sufficient evidence regarding this corruption case from two witnesses, namely a witness from the Ministry of Social Affairs and an expert witness from the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture.

From the results of the examination of these two witnesses, he said, the local prosecutor's investigators already had sufficient evidence regarding the total social assistance budget as well as technical and implementation instructions.

"We don't know how long it will take BPKP to audit the alleged corruption in the social assistance budget. We hope that the audit of this case will be completed within this month," he said, quoted by Antara.

Regarding the determination of the suspect in the case, he said, he is waiting for a BPKP audit.

"We should wait for the results of the BPKP audit to determine the suspect in this case," he said.

His party has also collected evidence and information from 65 witnesses related to the alleged corruption. The local district attorney confiscated documents deemed important for evidence.

The Kejari investigated the alleged corruption within two years, from September 2019 to September 2021, with a nominal disbursement of IDR 40 billion.

In the distribution of BPNT for two years, Kejari Mukomuko suspected that there was a game by several parties who had the authority to gain personal gain.

The party related to the BPNT Social Assistance is suspected of acting as a supplier of necessities to the e-warung, then the goods such as rice, eggs, and others are distributed to the BPNT Social Assistance recipient in Mukomuko.

In the Regulation of the Minister of Social Affairs (Permensos) Number 20 of 2019 in Article 39 paragraph (1), it is stated that social assistants are prohibited from forming e-warung, becoming suppliers of goods and receiving compensation, in money or in kind, related to the distribution of BPNT.

In that case, he said, there were indications that a game had violated the Social Minister's Regulation.

"State losses arise from the parties' profits from supplying goods for BPNT's needs, which in fact they are prohibited from supplying these goods," he said.