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KPK names Malang mayor, councillors as bribery suspects
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Corruption Eradication Commission officers search the house of Malang Mayor, Mochamad Anton in Malang, East Java, on Tuesday. (JP/Aman Rochman)
T
he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named Mochamad Anton, the current mayor of Malang in East Java who is seeking reelection, a suspect in an alleged bribery case related to the city’s budget deliberation for the 2015 budget year.
Along with Anton, the KPK has also named 18 Malang City Council members as suspects. The councillors include Ya’qud Ananda Gudban from the Hanura Party who is running in this year’s mayoral election.
“Investigators obtained evidence and witness testimony that 18 Malang City Council speakers and members had allegedly accepted fees from the mayor and a city agency head to iron out the budget deliberation,” KPK deputy chairwoman Basaria Panjaitan said on Wednesday.
Last August, investigators caught Malang City Council Speaker M. Arief Wicaksono allegedly receiving bribe money from Investment and One-Stop Integrated Services Agency head Jarot Edy Sulistyono.
Basaria said Jarot allegedly gave Rp 700 million (US$49,000) to Arief who later disbursed the money to 18 councillors.
“This case shows that corruption can be done en masse involving regional heads along with subordinates and local councillors,” she added.
Previously, the KPK asserted it would not halt investigations into graft cases involving state officials running in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections. (evi)
