Minister Of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara Becomes Suspect, From The Beginning The KPK Warns Bansos COVID-19 Not To Be Corrupted

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 - Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the KPK has warned against also moving to prevent corruption in handling COVID-19. But ultimately social assistance for residents affected by the pandemic was corrupted.

KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri explained the KPK's prevention efforts so that the handling of COVID-19 was not corrupted. There are two circular letters, namely Circular Letter Number 8 of 2020 dated April 2, 2020 concerning the Use of the Budget for the Implementation of the Procurement of Goods / Services in the Context of Accelerating the Handling of COVID 19 Related to the Prevention of Corruption Crime.

Second Circular (SE) Number 11 of 2020 dated April 21, 2020 concerning the Use of Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) and non-DTKS data in providing Social Assistance to the Community, and

"The circular serves as a guide and signposts to prevent criminal acts of corruption based on the KPK's mapping of corruption-prone points in handling the COVID-19 pandemic," Firli said at a press conference at the KPK building, Sunday, December 6 in the morning.

However, the operation of catching hands (OTT) of Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara's subordinates uncovers the facts of the bancakan with the allocation of money from the COVID-19 social assistance program at the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos).

"The activity of catching hands related to alleged corruption in the form of receiving something by state officials or representing them at the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs regarding social assistance (Bansos) for the Jabodetabek area in 2020," said Firli.

There are 5 suspects in the COVID-19 social assistance corruption case. Three suspects who received money from corruption are Social Minister Juliari Peter Batubara (JPB), a commitment maker at the Ministry of Social Affairs Matheus Joko Santoso (MJS) and Adi Wahyono (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 basic food packages at the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2020 with a value of around Rp. 5.9 trillion with a total of 272 contracts and carried out in 2 periods.

"JPB (Juliari P Batubara) as the Minister of Social Affairs appointed MJS and AW as PPK in the implementation of the project by directly appointing partners and it is suspected that it was agreed to determine a fee for each work package which partners must deposit to the Ministry of Social Affairs through MJS," said Firli, referring to the COVID-19 social assistance mode of corruption 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, by MJS and AW in May to November 2020, work contracts were made 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 (Juliari Peter Batubara) and approved by AW," said Firli.

Social Assistance Money Flows to the Social Minister's Pocket

The KPK explained how the Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Juliari Peter Batubara (JPB) received bribes in the case of alleged corruption in social assistance (bansos) COVID-19. The money received reached tens of billions in two periods.

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

"In the first period of the implementation of the basic food assistance package, it is suspected that a fee of Rp 12 billion was received, which MJS distributed in cash to JPB (Juliari Peter Batubara) via AW with a value of around Rp. 8.2 billion," he said.

The money allocated for Social Minister Juliari is managed by Eko and Shelvy who are the confidants of the Minister of Social Affairs. Corruption money from the COVID-19 social assistance program called the KPK was used for the personal needs of Social Minister Juliari Batubara.

"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 Rp. 8.8 billion. The money was also received by Social Minister Juliari and used for his personal gain.

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

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

"JPB (Juliari P Batubara) as the Minister of Social Affairs appointed MJS danAW as PPK in the implementation of the project by directly appointing partners and it is suspected that it was agreed to determine a fee for each work package which partners must deposit to the Ministry of Social Affairs through MJS," he explained. Firli.