The Corruption Eradication Commission Confiscated IDR 52.3 Billion From Lobster Seeds Exporters

KPK (Wardhany Tsa Tsia/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) confiscated around IDR 52.3 billion in cash. This money was confiscated because it was suspected of coming from exporters of lobster seeds that had received permission from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

"The KPK investigating team confiscated assets in the form of cash of around IDR 52.3 billion from Bank BNI 46 Gambir branch. This money is thought to have come from exporters who obtained permission from the KKP to export clear lobster seeds in 2020", said the KPK spokesman for the field. Ali Fikri's prosecution, Monday, March 15.

In this case, the KPK suspects Edhy Prabowo as the former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries ordered the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries to make a written order.

Ali said this letter was related to the withdrawal of bank guarantees from exporters to the Head of the Fish Quarantine, Quality Control, and Fishery Product Safety Agency (BKIPM). "Then the Head of BKIPM ordered the Head of the Soekarno Hatta Jakarta Large Quarantine Office to accept the Bank Guarantee", he explained.

It's just that, later it was discovered that the rules for submitting bank guarantees as a form of commitment to the implementation of the lobster clear seed export allegedly never existed.

With this cooperation regarding the confiscation of tens of billions of rupiah, the KPK appreciates Bank BNI 46 for cooperation in efforts to resolve this alleged corruption case. "Corruption eradication requires public participation", said Ali.

As previously reported, in the case of the export bribery of shrimp fry or lobster seeds, Edhy Prabowo was named a suspect in receiving bribes along with five other people, namely: special staff of Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) Safri (SAF) and Andreau Pribadi Misanta (APM); Management of PT Aero Citra Kargo (PT ACK) Siswadi (SWD); The staff of the wife of the Minister of KKP, Ainul Faqih, and Amiril Mukminin (AM).

Meanwhile, the giver of the bribe was the Director of PT Dua Putra Perkasa Pratama (PT DPPP) Suharjito (SJT).

Edhy was named a suspect because he was suspected of accepting bribes from companies that had been issued a lobster seed export license using a forwarder company and were kept in one account up to IDR 9.8 billion.

Furthermore, on November 5, 2020, Ahmad Bahtiar transferred IDR 3.4 billion to the staff account of Edhy's wife, Ainul, which was earmarked for the needs of Edhy, his wife Iis Rosyati Dewi, Safri, and Andreau.

This money is used for shopping for luxury goods by Edhy and his wife in Honolulu, USA from November 21 to November 23, 2020, amounting to around IDR 750 million, including Rolex watches, Tumi, and LV bags, road bikes, and Old Navy clothes.

In addition, around May 2020, Edhy was also suspected of receiving 100 thousand US dollars from Suharjito through Safri and Amiril.