DKI Provincial Government Explores State Losses Alleged Corruption Of The Culture Service

Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Teguh Setyabudi (Diah Ayu/VOI)

JAKARTA - Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Teguh Setyabudi said that his party through the DKI Jakarta Inspectorate also re-investigated state losses from alleged corruption at the DKI Jakarta Culture Service.

This is in the aftermath of a search of the Cultural Service office by the DKI Jakarta High Prosecutor's Office for the case of a fake stamp that allegedly cost the state Rp150 billion.

"So I did instruct the Inspectorate, as an update for this handling. Then also to carry out investigations and deepening, it was found that the suspicion of state losses was still being calculated," said Teguh in Cipinang, East Jakarta, Thursday, December 18.

The plan is that the Head of the DKI Jakarta Culture Service, Iwan Henry Wardhana, will be disabled from his position today. Teguh said that Iwan's dismissal was based on careful consideration.

"At least to launch the handling process that occurred and also to provide opportunities for the head of the Service to focus more on dealing with these problems," said Teguh.

Teguh emphasized that the DKI Provincial Government is ready to cooperate with the High Prosecutor's Office (Kejati) which is investigating and investigating alleged irregularities in budget activities at the Cultural Service.

"Of course we respect and also I work together with the Jakarta High Prosecutor's Office to deal with allegations of corruption that occurred at the Culture Service over the 2023 budget," he explained.

It is known that the DKI Jakarta High Prosecutor's Office searched the office of the DKI Jakarta Culture Office on Wednesday, December 18. The search was carried out starting at 10.40 WIB, starting from the room of the Head of the Culture Service on the 15th floor and the room of the Head of Culture Utilization on the 14th floor.

Not only the offices of the Culture Service were searched, but also the houses of the Head of Culture Utilization and the offices of third parties or private parties, namely the EO GR-Pro office.

The basis for the search is the alleged irregularity of activity funds sourced from the Budget of the Jakarta Special Region Culture Office for the 2023 fiscal year with an activity value of approximately Rp150 billion.

"The search and confiscation of the handling of cases of alleged corruption in the form of irregularities in activities at the Jakarta Special Regional Provincial Culture Office," said Head of the Legal Information Section of the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, Syahroni Hasibuan.

The DKI Prosecutor's Office confiscated Rp1 billion from the search. It was also confiscated by hundreds of fake stamps from a series of searches by the Jakarta Special Region Culture Office and four other locations.

From a temporary investigation, hundreds of fake stamps were used to make an impression of the implementation of an activity. Thus, the budget for activities of the Jakarta Culture Service for the 2023 period can be disbursed.

"It is as if the activity is carried out as evidenced by the stamp to disburse the budget even though the fact is that there is absolutely no activity," he said.

In the series of searches, investigators also confiscated a number of evidences such as electronic items such as laptops, cellphones, computers, and flash drives. Now, the evidence is being investigated further.