T

he controversial inquiry on the part of the legislature into the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has not deterred the antigraft body from cracking down on alleged corruption involving politicians.

Late on Friday, KPK investigators arrested four people for alleged bribery and collusion between government officials and politicians in Mojokerto, East Java.

Investigators also seized Rp 470 million (US$35,300) allegedly related to budget manipulation, exposing the weak checks and balances mechanisms in budgetary processes in regions across Indonesia.

The four suspects include Mojokerto Council speaker Purnomo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and deputy speakers Umar Faruq from the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Abdullah Fanani from the National Awakening Party (PKB). The other suspect is Wiwiet Febriyanto, head of Mojokerto Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency.

This is the second arrest made by the antigraft body in the province in the past two weeks.

On June 5, KPK investigators arrested six people, including East Java Provincial Legislative Council member Mochamad Basuki. Mochamad allegedly accepted Rp 150 million (US$11,300) in upeti from the province’s agriculture agency head, Bambang Heryanto, who was also arrested.

Upeti, which was originally a tribute in the form of wealth paid by a kingdom’s executives to the king during Indonesia’s pre-colonial era, refers to the illicit submission of money, often on a regular basis, in a bid to win favor with the recipient, who is an individual with power.

According to the KPK, Bambang was allegedly committed to paying a quarterly tribute to Basuki to the tune of Rp 600 million per year.

KPK deputy chairman Basaria Panjaitan said Rp 170 million of the total cash amount seized in Mojokerto was suspected to be a quarterly upeti from Wiwiet to the councilors.

The remaining Rp 300 million, meanwhile, was allegedly a bribe intended to persuade the city council to reallocate money earmarked for the construction of the Surabaya State Electrical Polytechnic in the 2017 Mojokerto city budget. The value of the project is tagged at Rp 13 billion (US$977,665).

“The agency head agreed to pay Rp 500 million [in bribes] for the reallocation of the budget,” Basaria said, claiming that the cash seized during the arrest was the first installment.

She said Wiwiet had attempted to get more money from the budget for an environmental management project overseen by his agency.

During the raid, the KPK also apprehended two other people, identified only by the initials T and H, who reportedly served as middlemen.

Saut Situmorang, another KPK deputy chairman, said similar such modus operandi could be happening in other regions.

“[Bribery related to] budget deliberation shows instability and weak checks and balances in regional administrations. The KPK will continue to pay attention to similar practices in other regions,” he said.

According to data from the KPK, at least 127 legislative members at the national and regional level have been charged with corruption by the antigraft body from 2004 to March 2017. (kuk)