TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
South Bengkulu regent nabbed for alleged graft
Change Size
Fighting graft: Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesperson Febri Diansyah speaks at a press conference in Jakarta on Jan.23. (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
T
he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) apprehended a regional head in Bengkulu over his alleged involvement in a graft case during an operation on Tuesday evening.
“Four people were arrested in the operation in Bengkulu: a regent, a member of the regent’s family, a government employee and a businessperson. Investigators seized around Rp 100 million [US$7,090] in cash during the arrest,” KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said on Tuesday.
He added that the implicated individuals were arrested in the middle of an alleged illicit transaction regarding a botched infrastructure project. The antigraft body refused to reveal further details regarding the operation, saying investigators were still working on the case in the field.
Reports have indicated that the implicated regent is South Bengkulu Regent Dirwan Mahmud. He was reportedly arrested by graft busters along with his wife.
Bengkulu has been red-flagged by the antigraft body as a region prone to corruption, as graft busters have conducted at least three operations to arrest graft-implicated state officials in the province.
In September, the KPK arrested a judge at the Bengkulu Corruption Court, Dewi Suryana, for allegedly accepting unlawful gifts. Three months prior to the arrest, graft busters apprehended Bengkulu governor Ridwan Mukti and his wife, Lily Martiani Maddari, for alleged bribery – only days after investigators nabbed Bengkulu Prosecutors’ Office official Parlin Purba in a separate bribery case. (ebf)
