The Corruption Eradication Commission Detains National Land Agency Officials Related To Gratuities And Money Laundering

Illustration (Photo: Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has detained two officials, namely the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Gusmin Tuarita and the Head of Land Legal Affairs for the East Java National Land Agency (BPN), Siswidodo.

Both were detained after being named suspects in the alleged receipt of gratuities and money laundering (TPPU), since November 2019.

"For the purposes of investigation, each of the suspects will be detained for the next 20 days starting from March 24 to April 12", KPK Deputy Chair Lili Pintauli Siregar said in a press conference broadcast online on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube channel, Wednesday, March 24.

Gusmin was detained at the KPK branch detention center, the Red and White Building, KPK. Meanwhile, Siswidodo was detained at the KPK Prison Military Police Jaya Guntur branch.

However, before that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two of them had to carry out independent isolation at the KPK C1 Prison.

This case started when Gusmin served as Head of the Regional Office (Kakanwil) BPN for West Kalimantan and East Java Provinces. He is also assumed to have the authority to grant land rights as regulated by the Regulation of the Head of the National Land Agency of the Republic of Indonesia Number 2 of 2013 concerning Delegation of Authority to Grant Rights to Land and Land Registration Activities.

This grant of land rights was determined on January 28, 2013, and comes into force one month from the date of stipulation.

"To carry out these duties and authorities, GTU together with SWD allegedly approved the granting of Business Use Rights to the applicants by forming a special committee, one of which was to issue a recommendation letter for granting Business Use Rights to the head office of BPN RI for the area under the authority of the Head of BPN RI", said Lili.

Next, from 2013 to 2018, Gusmin allegedly received a sum of money from land rights applicants. "Including business use rights applicants who are received directly in the form of cash from land rights applicants or through SWD at the BPN office or in official homes, as well as through bank account transfers", she said.

The money received was subsequently deposited by Gusmin into several bank accounts in the personal names of his own and family members. The amount of money that was deposited at that time reached IDR 27 billion.

As a result of their actions, Gusmin and Siswidodo were suspected of violating Article 12 B of Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning Eradication of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1 ) 1st Criminal Code jo. Article 64 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.