Pamekasan Disperindag Fires Outsourcing Employee Who Embezzled Rp1 Billion Market Retribution

Head of the Pamekasan Department of Industry and Trade (Disperindag), Achmad Sjaifudin. (ANTARA/Abd Aziz)

PAMEKASAN - The Department of Industry and Trade of the Pamekasan Regency, East Java has fired an employee who was proven to have embezzled traditional market retributions that cost the state money up to billions of rupiah.

"The employee proven to have committed the embezzlement is an outsourced employee. Apart from being fired, we also demand that the embezzled money be returned," said Head of the Pamekasan Disperindag, Achmad Sjaifudin, quoted by Antara, Thursday, June 9.

He said the findings of the alleged embezzlement of market retribution money by the employee were based on the results of an audit by the Pamekasan Regency Government Inspectorate.

At that time, the Disperindag of the Pamekasan Regency Government found suspicious indications of market retribution income managed by third parties.

"As the new head of the Pamekasan Regency Disperindag, I have submitted an application to the Inspectorate to conduct an audit," he said.

The result, he said, was that embezzlement was indeed found.

Furthermore, the Inspectorate followed up so that the Pamekasan Disperindag continued the report on the findings of the embezzlement of levy money to the BPK RI.

"The results of the BPK audit indeed found that there was embezzlement for three years, namely in 2017, 2018 and 2020 with a total value of more than Rp. 1.7 billion," he said.

Based on the Audit Results Report (LHP) of the Supreme Audit Agency of the Republic of Indonesia, it was found that the embezzlement of market retributions by these individuals amounted to more than Rp. 506 million in 2017, then in 2018 it was Rp. 89 million more, and in 2022 it was Rp. 480 million more.

"So, apart from being fired, this person is also willing to return the embezzled market retribution," he said.

On Thursday morning, a group of people rallied to the Pamekasan Disperindag office demanding that the Head of Disperindag Achmad Sjaifudin resign as head of the service.

This claim is based on the assumption that it was the head of the institution who embezzled the market retribution money based on the announcement of the BPK audit report.