Participating In The Corruption APBDes With The Former Village Head, The Head Of Tanggul Wetan Jember Village Was Detained By The Police

Illustration of arrests. (Rawpixel-Freepic)

JAKARTA - Investigators from the Jember Resort Police, East Java, have detained the Village Secretary of Tanggul Wetan with the initials ZH in connection with the alleged corruption case of the Village Revenue and Expenditure Budget or APBDes for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

"ZH was named a suspect in the alleged corruption case in the APBDes because he was suspected of participating in a criminal act of corruption committed by the former Head of Tanggul Village, Wetan Suwandi Sulton, who had been prosecuted first," said Jember Police Criminal Investigation Unit Head AKP Angga Riatma in his statement in Jember, Thursday.

This case is the development of an investigation into the alleged corruption case in the APBDes amounting to Rp484 million, which previously charged the former Tanggul Weandan village head to be sentenced and served a sentence at the Class II-A Jember Penitentiary.

"The suspect ZH entered the data not according to the facts in the APBDes accountability letter and this was done on the orders of the village head," he said.

The Surabaya Corruption Court sentenced Suwandi Sulton to 1 year and 10 months in prison and a fine of Rp. 50 million along with a replacement money of Rp. 268.5 million.

After detaining the suspect ZH, investigators immediately completed the statements of a number of witnesses, including expert testimony, so that the file can be immediately transferred to the Jember District Attorney.

"We have also asked for information from criminal experts, financial experts, and the Inspectorate regarding the alleged corruption case of the APBDes for the 2022-2023 fiscal year," he said.

Angga explained that the case originated from the findings of irregularities in the APBDes that were appropriate for projects such as village hall rehabilitation, road asphalt maintenance, village equipment allowances, waterway maintenance, and road construction.

"The budget has been reported to have been used, but in reality these projects are not carried out as they should," he said.

He explained that suspect ZH was charged with Article 2 and Article 3 of the Corruption Eradication Law in conjunction with Article 55 of the Criminal Code.