P

rosecutors in East Java arrested Tuesday former provincial legislative council speaker Fathorrasjid for allegedly embezzling a Rp 13 billion from a poverty eradication fund.

Fathorrasjid is believed to have misused the fund allotted by the East Java administration for the People's Socio-Economic Empowerment Program (P2SEM), said provincial chief prosecutor Zul-karnaen.

He added Fathorrasjid was now being held at Medaeng Penitentiary.

"We questioned him for about two hours to seek information about the case," Zulkarnaen said in a press conference at his office in Surabaya.

"Based on Article 31 of the corruption law, and evidence we found during the investigation, we decided to arrest Fathorrasjid as a suspect."

He said investigators were now focussing on digging up more information in the case, to see how many more people are involved.

"We've also received information from 10 other local prosecutor's offices in East Java that say they have also found other cases where P2SEM funds have been embezzled," Zulkarnaen said.

"These reports come from Malang, Situbondo, Banyuwangi and Surabaya, among other places."

The P2SEM program was kicked off last year by the East Java People's Empowerment Agency (Bapemas) to help low-income local residents. It was endorsed by the provincial legislature.

Sriyono, special crimes assistant at the East Java Prosecutor's Office, said Fathorrasjid's arrest followed that of Pudjiono and Mu'alimin, both officials at the provincial legislature, and an as-yet unidentified official at an agency in Sidoarjo.

"Pudjiono has been named a suspect because he sent Rp 1.5 billion to PT Nusantara Group in Jakarta, and also gave some money to a cleric in Situbondo, identified only as HR," Sriyono said.

"Our investigations show Fathorrasjid was one of the investors in the Nusantara Group."

Another prosecutor said Pudji-ono had played a key role in selecting 1,600 proposals from 38 regencies and cities in the province, which had all requested funds.

Pudjiono used his position to skim 50 percent from each fund that was to be disbursed to 200 organizations in Banyuwangi, Situbondo, Bondowoso, Jember and Sidoarjo, added the prosecutor.

The total amount embezzled was Rp 13 billion.

Prosecutors had earlier named Jumanto, a councilor-elect from the Probolinggo branch of the Nahdlatul Ulama Awakening Party (PKNU), a suspect in the case.

The money he embezzled was reportedly used to fund his campaign.

East Java Council Speaker Djakfar Shodiq said the P2SEM had been cancelled in June.

"We planned to use the remaining funds *of around Rp 200 billion* for infrastructure in villages across the province," he said.