Not Yet A Month, Two Ministers Jokowi Become KPK 'Patients'

Illustration (Photo: Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has recently been aggressively carrying out a series of arrests (OTT). At least two of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) ministers were arrested by the KPK in less than a month. The two ministers are now KPK 'patients'.

First, OTT of the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Cengkareng

The news that Minister Edhy was arrested by the KPK task force team began to get busy since Wednesday, November 25 in the morning. This confidant of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Cengkareng, Tangerang when he arrived from abroad.

"Last night the KPK Minister was secured at the KPK at Soekarno-Hatta Airport (Terminal, red) 3 when he returned from Honolulu," said Firli when confirmed by reporters, Wednesday, November 25 morning.

In this arrest, Edhy and 15 other people were taken to the KPK's Red and White House. As a result, the KPK named Gerindra politician Edhy Prabowo as a suspect in accepting bribes. The minister was wearing an orange vest and handcuffed when it was announced to the public on Wednesday, November 25 evening.

Deputy Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission, Nawawi Pomolango, said that this operation began with public information about allegations of money receipt by State Administrators.

"The KPK received information on the alleged receipt of money by State Administrators. Furthermore, on November 21, 2020 to November 23, 2020, the KPK again received information on transactions in bank accounts that were suspected to hold funds," Deputy Chairman Nawawi Pomolango said at a press conference at Kuningan Persada Red and White House, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Thursday, November 26 in the morning.

From this account, the KPK detected the use of money by state administrators to buy a number of luxury goods abroad and eventually carried out a hand arrest (OTT) in a number of places such as Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Cengkareng, Tangerang; Jakarta; South Tangerang; Depok; and Bekasi.

As for the alleged bribery case that dragged Edhy, it is suspected that he was related to the export of lobster fries or seeds and began when he issued a decree number 53 / KEP MEN-KP / 2020 concerning the Due Diligence Team for Lobster Cultivation Fisheries Business Licenses, by appointing Andreau Pribadi. Misata who is also a special staff to the Minister as the Chief Due Diligence Executor and Safri as Deputy Chairperson of the Due Diligence Team.

In this case, Minister Edhy allegedly received Rp3.4 billion and 100 thousand United States dollars and he and his wife, Iis Rosita Dewi, used part of the money to buy luxury items such as Hermes bags and Rolex watches while on a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, America. Union.

For his actions, Edhy was later named a suspect in receiving bribes along with five other people, namely staff of the Minister of KP Safri (SAF) and Andreau Pribadi Misanta (APM); management of PT Aero Citra Kargo (PT ACK) Siswadi (SWD); staff of the wife of the Minister of KP Ainul Faqih, and Amiril Mukminin (AM). Meanwhile, the suspect who gave the bribe was the Director of PT Dua Putra Perkasa Pratama (PT DPPP) Suharjito (SJT).

Currently, Edhy and the suspects are being held at the KPK Detention Center for the Red and White House of the KPK for the next 20 days from November 25 to December 14. Not only that, to investigate cases, the KPK investigating team also continued to search and summon a number of witnesses.

The two Social Ministers Juliari P. Batubara are suspects in the alleged bribery case related to Basos COVID-19.

Social Minister Juliari P. Batubara did not participate in the arrests. But the KPK found evidence of Juliari's involvement in the bribery case.

The KPK named Social Minister Juliari Batubara as a suspect in the corruption of COVID-19 social assistance. The Minister of Social Affairs is suspected of receiving fees of up to tens of billions from partner companies in providing social assistance packages for basic food packages.

KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri said Social Minister Juliari Batubara was charged with Article 12 letter a or Article 12 letter b or Article 11 of Law Number 20/2001 concerning Eradication of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.

This article carries a maximum imprisonment of life or a minimum of 4 years in relation to state administrators who receive gifts or promises related to positions that are contrary to their obligations.

So what does the KPK say about the study of the application of Article 2 paragraph 2 of the Corruption Eradication Law related to the COVID-19 social assistance OTT? This article states that criminal acts of corruption committed in certain circumstances - such as a national natural disaster or an economic crisis - are punishable by death penalty.

"We understand that in the provisions of Law 31/1999, Article 2 concerning the procurement of goods and services, whoever commits an act deliberately enriches himself or another person by violating the law which results in the benefit of himself and others, thus causing losses to the state. In paragraph 2, there is a threat of the death penalty, ”said Firli in a question and answer session at the OTT press conference for the COVID-19 social assistance corruption case at the KPK building, Sunday, December 6 in the morning.

Firli called the COVID-19 pandemic declared by the government a disaster. In essence, Firli emphasized that the KPK was still working on the goods and services mechanism in relation to the COVID-19 social assistance case.

For information, President Joko Widodo designated COVID-19 as a national disaster through Presidential Decree No.12 of 2020 concerning the Determination of Non-Natural Disasters for the Spread of COVID-19 as a National Disaster in early April 2020.

"Of course later we will work based on witness testimony and evidence whether it can be included in Article 2 of Law 31 of 1999. I think we still have to work hard to prove whether or not there is a criminal act that inflicts state money as referred to in Article 2. Tonight what we are doing this OTT is a criminal act in the form of receiving something by state officials. So that's first, "said Firli to reporters.

[/ see_also]

Not only that. The KPK also conducted OTT for Cimahi Mayor Ajay Muhammad Priatna in Cimahi City

The silent operation against Ajay was carried out by the task force team on Friday, November 28 morning at around 10.40 WIB. Ajay and 10 other people were arrested in several places, namely Bandung and Cimahi, West Java.

The head of the PDI Perjuangan DPC in Cimahi City was caught by the OTT because he was suspected of accepting bribes related to the licensing of the Kasih Bunda Hospital in Cimahi City for the 2018-2020 Budget Year. In addition to determining Ajay, the KPK also named another suspect as the giver of bribes, namely the Commissioner of the Kasih Bunda Hospital, Hutama Yonathan.

"The KPK has named two suspects, namely Ajay Muhammad Priatna as the recipient of the bribe and Hutama as the giver of the bribe," said KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri at the KPK Building, South Jakarta, Saturday, November 28.

In the alleged bribery related to this permit, Ajay asked for Rp3.2 billion. This case began when the Kasih Bunda General Hospital built additional buildings in 2019. Then, the hospital submitted a request for a revised IMB to the Cimahi City Investment and One Stop Integrated Service (DPMPTSP) Office.

In order to pave the way for this, as hospital commissioner, Hutama Yonathan then met Ajay at a restaurant in Bandung, West Java. This meeting then culminated in a request for money of up to billions of rupiah.

Firli said, it was agreed that the handover of the money would be handed over in stages by Chyntia as the financial staff of the Kasih Bunda Hospital through Yanti as Ajay's confidant.

The giving has been made since May 6, 2020. The last gift was on November 27, 2020 amounting to IDR 425 million before the KPK conducted a hand arrest operation (OTT). "Giving to AJM has been made 5 times in several places, amounting to around Rp1, 661 billion from the Rp3.2 billion agreement," said Firli.

Furthermore, in the process of handing over the money, Ajay asked the hospital to make details of fake payments and receipts in the form of payment for construction of a hospital construction. This is done in order to prevent him from being caught by law enforcers.

As a result of their actions, at this time, Ajay and Hutama were detained by the detention center for the first 20 days starting from November 28, 2020 to December 17, 2020.

Then, OTT Regent of Banggai Laut Wenny Bukamo in Banggai Laut Regency

[/ read_more]

Several days later, the KPK task force team reportedly arrested Wenny in a silent operation that was held on Thursday, December 3. The news of this arrest was later confirmed by KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri.

"Today, Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 13.00 WIB, the Regent of Banggai Laut was arrested," Firli said when contacted by reporters.

However, at that time, he did not explain the cases that caught Wenny and how many people he had arrested. The news of the arrest was then conveyed by the Acting Spokesperson of the KPK in the field of prosecution Ali Fikri who said that 16 people were arrested by the KPK and that as regent, Wenny was suspected of receiving bribes from contractors.

Next, after bringing a number of parties caught by the OTT to the KPK Red and White House, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta and conducting intensive investigations, finally six suspects were identified, consisting of three bribe recipients and three bribe givers.

"The KPK has named six suspects," said KPK Deputy Chairman Nawawi Pomolango in a press conference broadcast on the KPK RI YouTube account, Friday, December 4.

The suspects who received bribes were Banggai Laut Regent Wenny Bukamo, Wenny's confidant, namely the President Commissioner of PT Alfa Berdikari Group (ABG) Recky Suhartono Godiman (RSG), and the Director of PT Raja Muda Indonesia (RMI) Hengky Thiono (HTO).

Meanwhile, the commissary of PT Bangun Bangkep Persada (BBP) Hedy Thiono (HDO); Director of PT Antarnusa Karyatama (AKM) Djufri Katili (DK); and Director of PT Andronika Putra Delta Andreas Hongkiwirang (AHO).

In this case, Wenny as regent allegedly ordered his confidant, Recky, to make an agreement with his partner who worked on several infrastructure projects, such as improving road sections in Banggai Laut Regency.

Not only that, he is suspected of conditioning the project auction with the Head of Banggai Laut Regency Public Works Office, Basuki Mardiono.

"Through this auction conditioning several work packages at the PUPR Office are suspected of giving a sum of money from partners, including HDO, DK, and AHO to WB with a varying amount between Rp. 200 million to Rp. 500 million," said Nawawi.

During the silent operation, the KPK also found a number of evidence in the form of Rp2 billion wrapped in cardboard boxes, check heads, savings books, and a number of documents.

Regarding the alleged bribery, the KPK suspects that the money received by Wenny will be used to finance campaign needs in the 2020 Pilkada, including to distribute the dawn attack on 9 December.

It is known, Wenny is a candidate for incumbent regent promoted by PDI Perjuangan and is paired with Ridaya Laode Ngkowe.

From the information gathered, he is also the first regent in Banggai Laut Regency and was first elected in December 2015. In addition, he has also served as a member of the Surabaya DPRD for the 1999-2004 period.

"It is true that during the investigation stage we saw an indication that the money collected was intended to be used in campaign costs or for the possibility of being used later in the dawn attack. The indication is in that direction," said KPK Deputy Chairman Nawawi Pomolango in a press conference broadcast on the KPK YouTube account. , Friday, December 4.

However, when asked whether the bribes had been used to pay for campaign props, Nawawi said that the KPK would investigate. "We have not yet found and further explored whether anything is used for APK," he said.

"But the initial indications for efforts to win the campaign are already there," he added.

As a result of his actions, the suspect was then detained at the detention center for the first 20 days from December 4 to December 23.

Hedy Thiono was detained at the KPK Detention Center for the Red and White House, Djufri Katili was detained at the Guntur Regional Police Prison KPK, and Andreas Hongkiwirang was detained at the KPK C1 Detention Center.

"Meanwhile, WB (Wenny Bukamo), RSG (Recky Suhartono Godiman), and HTO (Hengky Thiono) were each entrusted with temporary detention at the Luwuk Police Prison and then left for independent isolation because there were indications of reactive COVID-19," concluded Nawawi.

[/ read_more]