Police question suspect in ministry case

JAKARTA: The National Police on Friday questioned G.S., a suspect in a corruption case linked to the procurement of education facilities at the Education Ministry.

“Today, G.S. was questioned [by investigators] before Friday prayers, or at 11.00 a.m.,” National Police spokesman Insp. Gen Anton Bachrul Alam said as quoted by Antara news agency. G.S. is believed to be Giri Suryatmana, an official at the ministry.

Anton told reporters that G.S. could be charged under Article 31 of the 2001 Law on Corruption.

The case centered on the alleged embezzlement of Rp 140 billion in funds allocated to education facilities. Investigators have questioned 60 witnesses in the case, including National Education Deputy Minister Fasli Djalal, who was the ministry’s director general of higher education in 2007.

The amount of state loss incurred has yet to be determined, as the police were still collecting the evidence and auditing reports.

“Evidence is being collected and the state’s loss is still being audited, so we have not yet unveiled the complete information,” Anton said.