The Prosecutor's Office Confiscates Documents And Computers From The South Sumatra THP Office In Connection With The Alleged Corruption Case Of The SERASI Program

Illustration of a corruption case. (Antaranews)

PALEMBANG - The High Prosecutor's Office (Kejati) of South Sumatra (South Sumatra) confiscated a number of documents and a computer unit from the local Office of Agriculture, Food Crops and Horticulture (THP).

The confiscated items were obtained by the Investigating Prosecutor's Team of the South Sumatra Prosecutor's Office after conducting a search in one of the office spaces of the THP Office in Ilir Timur 1 District, Palembang City, Tuesday, July 19 afternoon.

The forcible effort was carried out by the South Sumatra Prosecutor's Office to complete the evidence in the investigation related to the alleged corruption case of the Save the Welfare of Farmers' Welfare Program (SERASI) in Banyuasin Regency.

"We secured several documents and computers at the South Sumatra Agriculture Service for the purpose of investigating the alleged corruption case of the SERASI Program in Banyuasin Regency," said Head of the Legal Information Section of the South Sumatra High Court, Mohd Radyan after the search, Tuesday, July 19.

He explained that the SERASI Program, which uses financing from the Ministry of Agriculture using the 2019 State Budget, is suspected of having deviations in its implementation so that it is currently under investigation by the South Sumatra High Court.

"The budget goes to the South Sumatra Provincial Agriculture Office, then the implementation is carried out by the Banyuasin Regency Agriculture Office, which is currently being investigated," he added, according to Antara.

Besides Banyuasin Regency, said Radyan, there are several regions that received funding from the Ministry of Agriculture, such as Musi Banyuasin Regency, Ogan Komering Ilir, Penukal Abab Lematang Ilir, Muara Enim, North Musi Rawas, Ogan Komering Ulu, and East Ogan Komering Ulu with a total of approx. IDR 1.3 trillion.

"But we focus on Banyuasin Regency, which received funding from the Ministry of Agriculture in 2019 of IDR 335 billion," he said.

Where, he said, the modus operandi is still under investigation by the South Sumatra High Court which so far has examined 60 witnesses consisting of Gapoktan, the South Sumatra Agriculture, Food Crops and Horticulture Service and the Banyuasin Regency Agriculture Service.

The search was carried out by the Investigating Team of the South Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office, which consisted of more than three people, led directly by the Assistant for Special Crimes at the South Sumatra High Court, Abdullah Noer Dani.

The investigative team started the search some time after arriving at the location opposite the South Sumatra Provincial Government Building, on Tuesday afternoon, at around 09.00 WIB. The search process lasted until 12:23 WIB.