The office’s junior attorney for special crimes, Arminsyah, said Surya was suspected of corruption in the 2015 procurement of implants and inserter tools.

“The BKKBN head was named a suspect yesterday,” Arminsyah said as quoted by kompas.com on Friday.

He added that AGO investigators had uncovered markups in the procurement of the long-acting reversible contraceptive and suspected there had been collusion in the bidding process for the project.

Surya and several other people stand accused of having ignored results of a financial assessment commissioned by the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP), which had alerted them to potential irregularities in the procurement process.

“It is suspected the budget use has caused Rp 27 billion [US$2.03 million] in losses to the state,” said Arminsyah.

Surya’s suspect-naming is the result of the AGO’s investigation of three other people previously named suspects.

They are pharmaceutical company Triyasa Nagamas Farma president director YW, medical equipment distributor Djaja Bima Agung director LW and former BKKBN financial bureau head KT.

A total of Rp 191.34 billion in funds was allocated from the state budget for the procurement of contraceptives in 2015.

The prices offered in the bidding process were reportedly controlled by Djaja Bima Agung, which was a tender participant. (ebf)