Minister of Social Affairs, The Suspect of Corruption in Social Assistance Covid-19

Evidence of money confiscated from the COVID-19 social assistance corruption OTT. Social Minister Juliari Batubara is a suspect in this case (KPK Public Relations)

JAKARTA - The KPK disclosed how the Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari Peter Batubara (JPB), received bribes in the suspected COVID-19 social assistance corruption case. The money received reached tens of billions in two periods.

KPK chairman, Firli Bahuri, said that in the first period of procuring social assistance packages, JPB received a fee of IDR 12 billion. The money was distributed to JPB, Matheus Joko Santoso (MJS), and Adi Wahyono (AW). The last two names are officials making commitments in the COVID-19 social assistance program.

"In the first period of the basic food assistance package, it is suspected that a fee of IDR 12 billion was received. The money distribution was given in cash by MJS to JPB through AW. The value was around IDR 8.2 billion," Firli said at a press conference at the KPK building, Sunday, December 6.

The money allocated for JPB was managed by Eko and Shelvy. They are the confidants of the Minister of Social Affairs. The money from the COVID-19 social assistance program was used for the personal needs of JPB.

"The money is then managed by EK and SN, as JPB's trusted people, to be used to pay for various personal needs of JPB," he said.

For the procurement of the second social assistance package, the money received reached IDR 8.8 billion. The money was also received by Social Minister Juliari and used for his gain.

"The fee money was collected from October 2020 to December 2020 amounting to around IDR 8.8 billion. Itis also suspected to be used for JPB needs," he said.

In this case, the KPK named five suspects. Three suspects who received money from corruption are Social Minister (JPB), official commitment maker at the Ministry of Social Affairs (MJS), and AW.

Meanwhile, the other two suspects were private providers, namely Ardian IM (AIM) and Hary Sidabuke (HS).

The KPK OTT was carried out in relation to the provision of social assistance for COVID-19 in the form of food packages at the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2020 with a value of around IDR 5.9 trillion with a total of 272 contracts and carried out in 2 periods.

"JPB, as the Minister of Social Affairs, appointed MJS and AW as PPK in the implementation of the project. By directly appointing partners, it is suspected that they agreed to stipulate a fee for each work package which partners must deposit to the Ministry of Social Affairs through MJS," said Firli said the corruption mode for social assistance COVID-19 at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The KPK said that the fee for each Bansos package was agreed upon by MJS and AW of IDR 10,000 per food package, of a value of IDR 300 thousand per social assistance package.

Furthermore, from May to November 2020, MJS and AW made work contracts with several suppliers as partners. Including AIM, HS, and also PT RPI (Rajawali Parama Indonesia), which allegedly belonged to MJS.

The appointment of PT RPI as one of the partners was allegedly known by JPB and approved by AW," said Firli.