Investigators from the South Sulawesi Regional Police’s Criminal Investigation Department uncovered 31 cases of criminal acts of corruption with 21 people named as suspects. South Sulawesi Regional Police Chief, Inspector General Yudhiawan, said that dozens of criminal acts of corruption were combined into three files. These include criminal acts of corruption related to physical work, banking and abuse of authority.
“There are 3 LPs (police reports) combined into one. There are 21 suspects, we are also combining these 3 LPs,” he said, in Makassar City, South Sulawesi, Tuesday (12/11).
Yudhiawan explained that in the physical work corruption case, the South Sulawesi Regional Police’s Ditreskrimsus investigated several cases, namely the construction of the 18 kilometer Sabang-Tallang road in North Luwu Regency by the PUTR Service of South Sulawesi Province in 2020. Furthermore, the construction of the Labukang Market by the Parepare City Trade Service in the 2019 fiscal year.
“The modus operandi is borrowing and using the company. PPK and PPTK do not control contracts, change specifications in the field, do not carry out work according to the contract or do not comply with work specifications and the use of managerial personnel does not comply with the contract,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the respective cases of alleged banking corruption include the granting of Bank BPD Sulselbar construction credit facilities to PT Aiwondeni Permai in 2020 and the granting of Bank BPD Sulselbar Sengkang Branch construction credit facilities to PT Delima Agung Utama in 2021.
Furthermore, the provision of construction working capital credit facilities at Bank Sulselbar Takalar Branch to PT Letebbe Putra Group in 2021-2022 and the provision of People’s Enterprise credit facilities (KUR) at Bank BRI Unit Mappasaile Pangkep Branch in 2019-2021.
Then, providing Bank BRI KUR facilities for the Takkallala Unit in Soppeng Regency in 2022-2023, abuse of authority to duplicate credit cards belonging to Bank BRI Kahu customers in Bone Regency in 2023, and providing Bank Mandiri SME Makassar Kartini credit facilities to the PT Eastern Pearl Flour Mils (EPFM) Cooperative 2018-2019.
In their actions, the suspects carried out an analysis of working capital credit that did not comply with the credit granting mechanism outside the branch’s working area and payment terms that were not debited.
“Apart from that, the credit facility is beyond its intended use and uses fictitious top-up documents and other required documentation for KUR disbursement requirements,” explained Yudhi.
Next, cases of alleged abuse of authority or position, namely levies of PPh 21 on State Civil Apparatus (ASN) recipients of payments for BPJS Health claims services at Lanto Daeng Pasewang Regional Hospital, Jeneponto Regency in 2017-2018 and procurement of goods handed over to the community in response to emergency situations. Covid-19 at the Makassar City Social Service in 2020 and management of agricultural tools and machinery at the UPTD for Agricultural Agribusiness Management in Maros Regency in 2020 2023.
In the case of Lanto Daeng Pasewang Regional Hospital, officials deducted the receipts from claims services to health workers but did not deposit PPh 21, but instead the funds were deposited in personal accounts by falsifying BPJS claim deposit slips as if they had been paid.
Then, in the Covid-19 case, it was suspected that he had inflated the prices of Covid-19 relief goods in Makassar, and for machine tools in Maros, his method was selling and renting state-owned goods and not depositing the funds into the state treasury.
“So far, case handling for stage one has included 5 police reports (LP), preparations for sending files to the prosecutor’s office 7 LP, while calculating state losses (PKN) 16 LP and fingerprinting process 5 LP,” he said.
Yudhiawan said that in this criminal case, 21 people were named as suspects with their respective initials, AA, JP, MS, OA, EJ, AR, DM, BJ, MT, ZS, AM, KH, ISB, AMS, AF, RL , ED, OO, FA, NR and NS. Meanwhile, 453 witnesses were examined and 12 experts were examined.
In this case, the South Sulawesi Regional Police confiscated 350 documents as evidence, such as BPKB, land certificates and other important documents. The police also confiscated 14 four-wheeled vehicles, 10 10-wheeled vehicles or dump trucks, eight Forklip trucks, one cell phone, three laptops and IDR 2.29 billion in cash.
“In this case, the rescue of state funds (money and goods) was worth more than IDR 8.7 billion, the results of calculating state losses (PKN) were more than IDR 25.4 billion, potential state losses (AI) were more than IDR 59.4 billion, so the total was IDR 84 .8 billion more,” he said.
As a result of their actions, the suspects were threatened with Article 2 paragraph 1 subsidiary Article 3 of Law number 31 of 1999 as amended by Law number 20 of 2001 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) first of the Criminal Code.
“The threat of imprisonment is a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 20 years or life in emergency conditions, as well as a minimum fine of IDR 200 million and a maximum of IDR 1 billion,” he added. (MGN/I-2)
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How can the public contribute to the fight against corruption as emphasized by Inspector General Yudhiawan?
**Interview with Inspector General Yudhiawan, Chief of the South Sulawesi Regional Police**
**Editor:** Good morning, Inspector General Yudhiawan, and thank you for joining us today. Recently, the South Sulawesi Regional Police uncovered a significant number of corruption cases. Can you share more details about these cases and the scope of the investigation?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** Good morning, and thank you for having me. Yes, we have recently uncovered 31 cases of corruption involving 21 suspects. These cases are categorized into three broad files, specifically related to physical work, banking activities, and abuse of authority. Our investigation has revealed a wide array of corrupt practices that undermine the public trust and the integrity of our institutions.
**Editor:** That sounds troubling. Could you elaborate on the types of physical work corruption your team has investigated?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** Certainly. One notable case involved the construction of an 18-kilometer road in North Luwu Regency. In this case, we found that the work was not carried out according to the specifications outlined in the contracts. There was a lack of oversight from the project procurement officials, which allowed for significant deviations in project execution. We are also looking into similar issues related to the construction of Labukang Market by the Parepare City Trade Service.
**Editor:** Beyond physical work corruption, you mentioned banking-related corruption as well. What are some of the key issues you’ve found in this area?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** The banking cases primarily involve the improper granting of construction credit facilities to several companies. For instance, we found that loan applications were often supported by fictitious documents, and credit facilities were extended outside the intended mechanisms. This has severe implications for financial integrity and ultimately affects the economy.
**Editor:** And in terms of the abuse of authority, what examples can you provide?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** One alarming case involved the inappropriate deductions from health workers’ payments related to BPJS Health claims at Lanto Daeng Pasewang Regional Hospital. Some officials were siphoning off funds, falsifying records in the process. We’re also investigating procurement issues related to state resources during the Covid-19 pandemic that involved inflated prices for relief goods.
**Editor:** This is certainly a comprehensive crackdown on corruption. How do you see the impact of these investigations on the public and the government?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** We hope that by bringing these issues to light, we reinforce the message that corruption will not be tolerated in our region. It is crucial for public trust in institutions to be restored. We encourage citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities, as fighting corruption must be a collective effort.
**Editor:** Thank you, Inspector General Yudhiawan, for sharing this important information with us. We appreciate your efforts in combating corruption in South Sulawesi.
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** Thank you for having me. It’s our duty, and we will continue to work diligently to uphold justice and accountability.
