Prosecutors are seeking a five-year jail term for former Manpower and Transmigration Ministry senior official Bachrun Effendi for his alleged involvement in corruption.
“We ask the panel of judges to declare the defendant legally and convincingly guilty of corruption,” prosecutor Chatarina Girsang told the Corruption Court on Wednesday.
Bachrun must also be fined Rp 200 million (US$16,700) and ordered to pay restitution of Rp 150 million, she said, or else he should serve another year and three months in prison.
Bachrun, a former secretary of the ministry’s manpower development and placement directorate general, was charged under Article 2(1) of the Corruption Law for profiting oneself, others or a corporation from a crime and Article 5 (1a) on gratuities.
The case revolves around the embezzlement of Rp 13.7 billion from the 2003 state budget for the manpower ministry to purchase equipment for vocational training centers in 10 provinces, the total budget of which amounted to Rp 50 billion.
The additional budget proposal for the project was then approved by the Finance Ministry in 2004.
Then manpower minister Fahmi Idris later directly appointed four companies, PT Suryantara Purna Wibawa, PT Panton Pauh Putra, PT Gita Vidya Utama, PT Mulindo Agung Trikarsa and CV Dareta to provide the training equipment.
Directors of the four companies — Mulyono Subroto, Erry Fuad, Karnawi, Vaylana Dharmawan and Ines Wulansari Setyawati — are also standing trial separately at the Corruption Court for similar charges.
After appointing the companies, Bachrun, through the committee head of projects Taswin Zein, told them to each set aside 2.5 percent of the project budget as “tactical funds”.
The money was later distributed to lawmakers involved in approving the additional budget for the project, Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) officials and some senior officials at the manpower ministry, including Bachrun and Taswin.
Taswin was sentenced last year to four years in prison.
He admitted receiving Rp 100 million and distributing Rp 150 million to Bachrun and Rp 290 million to the manpower ministry secretary-general Tjeppy Alowie from the projects.
BPK auditor Bagindo Quirinno also received Rp 650 million in return for allegedly fabricating audit reports on the contract projects.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is detaining Bagindo as another suspect in
the case.
The judges adjourned the Bachrun trial until next Wednesday to hear his defense pleas.
