Riau Islands Prosecutor's Office Detains BPR Bestari Tanjungpinang Official Suspect In Money Laundering

Illustration of the arrest of a suspected criminal. (Unsplash)

The Riau Islands Province High Prosecutor's Office (Kejati) has detained an official operational executive of the Bestari People's Credit Bank (BPR) Tanjungpinang City with the initials AF related to allegations of corruption and money laundering.

Head of the Legal Information Section (Kasi Penkum) of the Riau Islands Prosecutor's Office, Denny Anteng Prakoso, said that the AF who had been named a suspect was detained to speed up the process of investigating the case.

"The suspect AF has been officially detained for the next 20 days to undergo further legal proceedings," said Denny in Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands, Thursday, February 22, as quoted by Antara.

Before being detained, said Denny, AF was first named a suspect.

Determination of the suspect based on the Suspect Determination Letter (Tipikor) Number: PRINT-943/L.10/Fd.1/11/2023 dated November 8, 2023 on behalf of suspect AF, and Letter of Determination of Suspect (TPPU) Number: Print PRINT-943/L.10/Fd.1/11/2023 dated 08 November 2023 on behalf of suspect AF.

In this case, suspect AF is suspected of violating Article 2 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999, as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999 concerning Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) to 1 of the Criminal Code, Subsidiary Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999, as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999 concerning Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) to 1 of the Criminal Code.

"Meanwhile, the money laundering case allegedly violated Article 3 of the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of the Crime of Money Laundering, or both Article 4 of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of the Crime of Money Laundering," he said.

Denny continued that the modus operandi of suspect AF when he was the Executive Executive Officer of BPR Bestari Tanjungpinang was to withdraw customer savings, disburse customer deposits and withdraw cash on bank-owned checking accounts at partner banks without going through applicable regulations.

Based on the legal facts obtained, he continued, the suspect is suspected of embezzling the company's giro cash at Bank BRI, disbursing fictitious deposits and withdrawing fictitious customer savings funds.

"Based on the results of the calculation of state financial losses of approximately Rp. 6 billion," said Denny.

Denny added that the Riau Islands Prosecutor's Office Investigative Team will continue to investigate and thoroughly investigate the alleged corruption case. He hopes that the community will continue to monitor the development of this case, and fully support efforts to eradicate corruption in the local area.

For information, the Regional Company of Bank Percreditan Rakyat Bestari or abbreviated as PD BPR Bestari is one of the Regional Owned Enterprises (BUMD) owned by the Tanjungpinang City Government.