Head of UPTD Pasar in Mataram Named as Extortion Suspect

Mataram Police Chief Kombes Mustofa (central) together with Head of Criminal Investigation Unit Kompol Kadek Adi (right) accompanied by members showed the suspect and evidence of the case of illegal levies on kiosks at Ampenan Market (ANTARA/Dhimas B.P.)

MATARAM - The police have named the Head of the Technical Implementation Unit (UPTD) of the Cakranegara Market and Sandubaya of the Mataram City Trade Office, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB, with the initials AK) as a suspect in illegal levies for renting kiosks at Ampenan Market.

"So, based on the results of the active investigation of the OTT (arrest operation), starting from the examination of witnesses and the collection of evidence from the search, one of the four people we detained with the initials AK, we have named a suspect", said Mataram Police Chief, Commissioner Mustofa, as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, October 12.

From the results of the case, investigators applied the allegation of Article 12e of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001.

"The article that we think is related to the suspect AK's act of collecting kiosk rentals at the Ampenan Market which is not by existing regulations", he said.

As a follow-up to this determination, investigators detained the suspect AK at the Mataram Police Detention Center.

Suspect AK was caught by the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Mataram Police on Friday, October 7 at the Mataram City Trade Office. The police arrested AK when he received payment for the rent of a kiosk at Ampenan Market from a trader with the initials M. The confiscated evidence was in the form of IDR 30 million.

In addition to arresting AK and M, the police in the OTT activity arrested a market head who also witnessed the handing over of money at the location. The police also arrested an official of the Mataram City Trade Service with the initials MS.

During the interrogation at the location, AK admitted that he had withdrawn the rent from the kiosk at Ampenan Market to trader M.

"Before we conducted the OTT, this AK also admitted that he had just received a deposit from another trader, the nominal amount was IDR 15 million", said the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Mataram Police, Commissioner Kadek Adi Budi Astawa.

With this confession, the police confiscated IDR 45 million in cash from an OTT activity, Friday, October 7. The note of payment as proof of payment for the kiosk rental was also confiscated from the AK room.

"In the payment note, this AK admitted that he had faked the treasurer's signature so that his modus operandi was not easily smelled. We have also matched it with the original from the treasurer, it was different and without the treasurer's knowledge", he said.

Regarding the role of three other people who were arrested with AK at the OTT location, Kadek Adi said they were still witnesses.