Alleged KUR Corruption at Bank BNI Jember: Hundreds of Farmer Identities are Contaminated, the State Loses Tens of Billions

BNI (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The People's Business Credit (KUR) program, which was originally intended to help micro-entrepreneurs and farmers, is allegedly being misused on a large scale. The East Java High Prosecutor's Office (Kejati) revealed allegations of corruption in the distribution of Micro KUR at one of the BNI Bank Branches in Jember which caused a state loss of IDR 41.48 billion. In this case, investigators found around 900 identities of farmers in Jember Regency who were allegedly used to apply for fictitious loans. The farmers are said to not know that their names are used as debtors who receive KUR facilities. The investigation of this case has named three suspects, namely the former Head of the BNI Bank Branch in Jember period 2021-2023 with the initials MFH, and two Collection Agents (CA), AM from CV Jawara Tani and IS from CV Idris Afnan Jaya (IAJ). East Java High Prosecutor's Special Criminal Investigation Assistant (Aspidsus), I Gede Punia, revealed that AM and IS allegedly deployed their members to collect community identity documents, ranging from ID cards, Family Cards (KK), to marriage certificates.

"The document was obtained on the grounds of social assistance management. In return, residents received money of around Rp200 thousand to Rp250 thousand so that they did not suspect the use of their identities," said East Java Attorney General, I Gede Punia to VOI, Monday, July 13. According to investigators, all the documents were then used to apply for Micro-KUR at the State-Owned Bank Branch in Jember. The provisional suspicion, the process was carried out to cover the problematic loans that had emerged since 2019. In fact, MFH is said to have ordered the Account Officer (AO) Supervisor to continue processing credit applications even though the administrative requirements were not complete. Other irregularities were also found after the KUR funds were disbursed. The savings book and ATM card that should have been received by the debtors were allegedly never handed over to the owner of the identity. All accounts were actually controlled by AM and IS. Investigators also found that the ATM PIN was made uniform so as to facilitate the withdrawal of funds from these accounts. The East Java Attorney General noted the state losses allegedly caused directly by the actions of the two Collection Agents amounted to around Rp12.59 billion. Meanwhile, the results of the audit of the East Java Representative of the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) concluded that the total state losses in this case amounted to Rp41,487,138,481. This case has come under the spotlight because it concerns the disbursement of KUR funds which are government programs to expand access to financing for micro-entrepreneurs. Investigators stated that the investigation is still being developed to uncover the possibility of the involvement of other parties and to trace the flow of funds in the case.