KPK targets more govt offices after customs search

Abdul Khalik ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 06/02/2008 10:20 AM  |  Headlines

After a surprise search on the Tanjung Priok excise and customs office, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is aiming at other government offices widely reported to be bribe-infested.

KPK chairman Antasari Azhar said Sunday the anti-graft body would initiate the surveillance of several other offices to obtain more evidence before launching investigations.

"We will not stop with a search at the excise and customs office as several others are already on our list," Antasari told The Jakarta Post. He declined to name the institutions under suspicion.

Earlier this year, the KPK announced the results of its integrity survey on institutions that provide public services, calling the immigration office at the ministry of justice and human rights and the police among the bodies most vulnerable to corruption.

Indonesians ranked the legislative body as the most corrupt institution followed by the law enforcement agencies, judiciary, permit-issuing offices and the tax authority, according to a survey by the German-based Transparency International.

KPK deputy chairman for prevention Muhammad Jasin said the targeted offices would be kept secret to avoid their officials from destroying evidence.

Lawmaker Gayus Lumbuun of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) supported the KPK's move to raid other institutions, saying it could have a deterrent effect on corruptors.

Some 50 KPK officials, headed by Jasin and deputy chairman for investigation Chandra M. Hamzah, raided the excise and customs office in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, last Friday.

"We found four officials involved in bribery, and 20 others in violation of regulations. We will question the four while proposing that the excise and customs office dismiss or transfer the other 20," Jasin said.

The KPK found envelopes containing between Rp 5 million and Rp 15 million in cash, and bags with up to Rp 25 million. Each envelope bore the name of a company and the words, "uang makan" (meal allowance).

According to the KPK, the state incurred losses of Rp 12.5 billion a month from bribery practices involving the four officials, identified only by their initials as M, AGP, NTP and P.

The KPK will question the four on Monday before naming them suspects or detaining them, Jasin said.

Antasari said the anti-graft body was also seeking evidence of whether higher-ranking officials had received money from the four officials.

"We will find out if the practice is systematic and involves superiors or top-level officials," he said.

In a bid to curb corruption, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati last year raised the salaries of tax and excise and customs officials and hired a host of new faces.

The ministry has spent Rp 4.3 trillion since July last year on bureaucratic reform. The four excise and customs officials implicated in bribery each earn Rp 13 million a month.

Inspections last year by the customs office showed there were more than 2,300 graft cases in the office, causing the state losses of up to Rp 97.84 billion.

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