I

f there was a survey on the least popular provinces in Indonesia, Bengkulu would have to be in the top 10.

Bengkulu is the poorest province in Sumatra and the sixth poorest of the 34 provinces in Indonesia.

The province has, however, made headlines recently after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Bengkulu Governor Ridwan Mukti and his wife Lily Martiani Maddari along with two businessmen on Tuesday.

Ridwan is the third Bengkulu governor to be charged with corruption. In fact, Ridwan, while chairman of Golkar’s Bengkulu chapter, had asked the KPK to put the province on the anti-graft body’s watch list.

There are nine provinces under the KPK’s scrutiny this year. The provinces of North Sumatra, Riau and Banten were put on radar after repeated cases of graft. Aceh, Papua and West Papua, meanwhile, are monitored because they manage large special autonomy funds.

The three remaining provinces, Bengkulu, Central Java and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), were put on the list because of requests made by their respective governors, said KPK deputy chairman Alexander Marwata.

On Wednesday, the KPK announced that Ridwan and Lily, as well as construction firm PT Statika Mitra Sarana (SMS) director Joni Wijaya and businessman Rico Dian Sari, were bribery suspects.

Ridwan and Lily allegedly received Rp 1 billion (US$75,000) in bribes from Joni via Rico, who acted as a middleman. The money was allegedly part of Rp 4.7 billion in kickback fees promised to the governor and his wife in exchange for a tender PT SMS won to construct two roads in Rejang Lebong regency in Bengkulu.

The first project was worth
Rp 36 billion while the second was worth Rp 16 billion.

Alexander said Lily acted as a broker representing Ridwan. One of her roles was to collect the illicit fees or kickbacks.

Ridwan and Lily are the sixth regional leader-spouse couple to be arrested by the KPK.

Saut said the KPK had learned on Tuesday that Rico would hand over the bribes at the governor’s official residence. Rico arrived at around 9 a.m., and remained in the house for 30 minutes before leaving at the same time as Ridwan who was off to the office.

Rico was nabbed upon leaving the residence and escorted back to the governor’s house where investigators met Lily and searched for evidence. “Inside the house, we found Rp 1 billion in cash in a cardboard box,” Saut said. Around two hours later, Ridwan was arrested.

KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said the four suspects had been detained in separate locations. The agency has sealed off several buildings in Bengkulu, including Ridwan’s office and house.

The suspects have been charged under the 2001 Corruption Law. Ridwan and Lily face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if found guilty. Meanwhile, Rico and Joni face a maximum of three years’ imprisonment for allegedly bribing state officials.

Speaking separately to a local television station, Ridwan said he had resigned from his position as governor and as a Golkar member.

He also expressed his apologies to the people of Bengkulu and said he would take responsibility for “my wife’s mistakes.”

In 2008, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) named Agusrin Maryono Najamuddin a graft suspect in a case that caused Rp 21.3 billion in state losses.

In 2012, the Supreme Court found him guilty and sentenced him to four years in prison.

Later in 2012, Junaidi Hamzah, Agusrin’s deputy, replaced him as Bengkulu governor. Three years later, Junaidi was named as a graft suspect by the National Police for allegedly abusing his authority, causing Rp 3.6 billion in state losses.