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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What specific measures will the South Sulawesi Regional Police implement to prevent future corruption cases in public projects?
**Interview with Inspector General Yudhiawan, South Sulawesi Regional Police Chief**
**Editor:** Thank you for joining us, Inspector General Yudhiawan. It’s significant news that the South Sulawesi Regional Police have uncovered 31 cases of corruption amounting to approximately Rp. 84.8 billion. Can you explain how these cases came to light?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** Thank you for having me. The uncovering of these cases primarily came from our investigations into routine audits and whistleblowing from the community. Our Criminal Investigation Department has been actively looking into suspicious activities related to various public projects and banking operations.
**Editor:** You mentioned that the corruption cases are consolidated into three main categories. Can you elaborate on these categories and what specific violations were found?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** Certainly. The three categories include corruption in physical work projects, banking, and abuses of authority. For instance, in the physical work sector, we found issues in the construction of infrastructure like the 18-kilometer Sabang-Tallang road and the Labukang Market, where standard procedures were not followed, and specifications were altered.
**Editor:** That’s alarming. What about the banking corruption cases? What did your investigations reveal?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** In the banking sector, we uncovered irregularities, including improper granting of construction credit facilities to several companies without adherence to established lending mechanisms. Some instances involved banks providing loans beyond the intended purpose, utilizing falsified documentation.
**Editor:** Furthermore, you mentioned abuse of authority. Could you provide details about those incidents?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** Yes, the abuse of authority primarily centered around financial misconduct within government institutions, such as improper handling of BPJS Health claims at a regional hospital, where funds meant for health workers were misappropriated. There were also cases related to Covid-19 relief funds being inflated and mismanaged.
**Editor:** Given the scale of these cases, what actions is the South Sulawesi Regional Police taking moving forward?
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** We are committed to a thorough investigation and prosecution of all involved. We have consolidated our findings and will pursue legal actions against the 21 suspects implicated in these cases. Our focus remains on promoting integrity and accountability within public service.
**Editor:** Thank you for your insights, Inspector General Yudhiawan. It is crucial to hold individuals accountable and ensure justice is served.
**Inspector General Yudhiawan:** Thank you for your coverage. We appreciate the support of the community and the media in combating corruption.