3 Defendants Of COVID-19 Budget Corruption In Flotim Were Transferred To Kupang Detention Center

A prosecutor from the East Flores Kejari handed over the case file for the alleged COVID-19 budget corruption to the Class IA Kupang Kejari

The East Flores District Attorney's Office (Kejari), East Nusa Tenggara, has transferred three defendants suspected of corruption in managing the budget for accelerating the handling of COVID-19 at the East Flores BPBD to Kupang to undergo trial. Head of the Special Crimes Section of the East Flores District Attorney's Office (Kejari) Kornelis S. Oematan said the three defendants had been flown to Kupang on Wednesday, November 23. "Today it is in Kupang and already in their respective detentions," he told Antara from Larantuka, East Flores, Thursday, November 24. He mentioned three defendants, namely the Financial Treasurer of the BPBD Office of East Flores Regency, Petronela Letek Toda, the Chief Executive of the BPBD of East Flores Regency, Alfonsus Hada Beta, and the Regional Secretary of East Flores Regency, Paulus Igo Gerode. The Finance Treasurer of the BPBD Office of East Flores Regency, Petronela Letek Toda, has been transferred to the Class IIB Women's Correctional Institution Kupang. Meanwhile, for the other two defendants, namely the Head of BPBD for East Flores Regency, Alfonsus Hada Beta and the Regional Secretary of East Flores Regency, Paulus Igo Gerode, were transferred to the Kupang Class IIB Detention Center. He added that during the process of transferring the defendants, they were under strict guard from two members of the East Flores Police. Kornelis added that on Thursday afternoon the East Flores Public Prosecutor's Office had transferred the case to the Corruption Court at the Kupang District Court. "It has been delegated earlier, so now it's just a matter of waiting for the date of the trial from the Chief Justice of the Kupang District Court to hold the trial on the first day," he added. Previously, it was reported that the alleged corruption case of funds for handling COVID-19 in East Flores Regency in 2020 began when a refocusing of budget activities and reallocations for the acceleration of handling COVID-19 at the East Flores Regency Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) office received an allocation of an unexpected expenditure fund budget of Rp. 6.5 billion for disaster emergency management. In the accountability report, the use of funds is not supported by evidence in accordance with the applicable regulations in the report on the use of COVID-19 relief funds, resulting in state losses of Rp. 1.5 billion. In the process of disclosing the case, the East Flores BPBD Finance Treasurer fled to West Nusa Tenggara Province, but was arrested.