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 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 methods were used during the investigations that uncovered the 31 cases of corruption?
**Interview with Inspector General Yudhiawan, South Sulawesi Regional Police Chief**
*Editor:* Thank you for joining us today, Inspector General Yudhiawan. You recently announced that the South Sulawesi Regional Police have uncovered 31 cases of corruption involving 21 suspects. Can you provide more details on how these cases came to light?
*Inspector General Yudhiawan:* Thank you for having me. Our Criminal Investigation Department conducted thorough investigations into various reports of corruption, specifically focusing on physical projects, banking irregularities, and abuse of authority. Each of these cases represents a significant breach of trust and misuse of public resources.
*Editor:* In your findings, you mentioned multiple types of corruption, including issues surrounding the construction of roads and market facilities. Can you elaborate on some of the most concerning cases?
*Inspector General Yudhiawan:* Certainly. One major case involves the construction of the 18-kilometer Sabang-Tallang road, where project specifications were altered without proper oversight. This project and others like it demonstrate a pattern where project managers are not adhering to contracts and, as a result, services and deliverables are compromised.
*Editor:* It sounds alarming. You also highlighted banking-related corruption involving several credit facilities. What were the main issues identified in these cases?
*Inspector General Yudhiawan:* The banking corruption cases involved the granting of loans under questionable circumstances. For instance, construction credit facilities were provided without following proper credit granting mechanisms. There were instances where fictitious documents were used, and loans were taken out for purposes other than intended, which severely undermines the integrity of our banking system.
*Editor:* There seems to be a concerning trend of abuse of authority among various officials. What steps are being taken to address this issue?
*Inspector General Yudhiawan:* We’re taking this very seriously. We are not only bringing the suspects to justice but are also reviewing processes to prevent similar occurrences in the future. This includes training and stricter enforcement of regulations, as well as working with governmental bodies to ensure transparency and accountability.
*Editor:* Thank you for shedding light on these critical issues. As these investigations continue, what message would you like to convey to the public regarding corruption in South Sulawesi?
*Inspector General Yudhiawan:* I want to assure the public that we are committed to fighting corruption head-on. Every report will be investigated thoroughly, and we will ensure that those who misuse their positions are held accountable. Together, we can foster a clean and transparent government that serves the people.
*Editor:* Thank you, Inspector General Yudhiawan, for your insights and the important work your department is conducting to combat corruption in the region.