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Police watchdog reports Ganjar to KPK, sparks debate over motive
Ganjar's campaign team has hit back at Indonesia Police Watch's report to the KPK alleging the former Central Java governor and an ex-Bank Jateng director of bribery, suggesting it was politically motivated due to the IPW chair's ties to the PSI, which is led by Jokowi's youngest son Kaesang.
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Sugeng Teguh Santoso (right), then the executive director of the Justice Legal Aid Institute (LBH Keadilan), speaks to reporters on July 13, 2016 at the Constitutional Court in Central Jakarta after submitting a petition for judicial review of the Tax Amnesty Law. (JP/Prima Wirayani)
Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) filed a report with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday, alleging that presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo and former Bank Jateng president director Supriyatno had received gratuities in the last decade.
The move has sparked debate on politically motivated attacks amid the ongoing efforts to set up a legislative inquiry over alleged irregularities and fraud in the 2024 general election.
IPW chairman Sugeng Teguh Santoso filed the report, which accuses the former Central Java governor and the former banking director of using money from Bank Jateng’s creditors to line their own pockets in excess of Rp 100 billion (US$6.4 million) through a cashback reward scheme for almost a decade.
“Money in the form of cashback [were transferred] from several insurance firms to a Bank Jateng [director], allegedly from 2014 until 2023. The director’s initial was S,” Sugeng said, as quoted by Tempo.co.
Sugeng explained that the method involved receiving cashback from the insurers of the bank’s consumer loans.
He added that the amount of the premiums “insurance companies such as Astrindo, Astrida and others” returned as cashback to Bank Jateng “amounted to 16 percent”.
The funds were allegedly divided among three parties: 5 percent went to Bank Jateng to cover its operating costs, 5.5 percent to the bank’s shareholders and the remaining 5.5 percent to Ganjar, identified only by his initials GP.
The KPK confirmed that it had received a report from the IPW, which the antigraft body would be verifying, spokesman Ali Fikri told reporters.
Ganjar said on Wednesday that he had “never received any gifts or gratuities as accused”, as quoted by Tempo.co.
Ganjar-Mahfud MD campaign spokesperson Chico Hakim said the IPW’s report seemed forced and politically motivated.
Chico noted that IPW chair Sugeng was a member of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), which had recently come under scrutiny over allegations of inflated votes.
“And if you look at the IPW website, it doesn’t appear that this report was filed in line with IPW’s function and its relevance to the National Police,” he told Tempo.com.
The PSI, which is chaired by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep, is looking to fulfill the 4 percent legislative threshold to secure seats at the House of Representatives.
Jokowi’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka ran for the vice presidency alongside Defense Minister and presidential front-runner Prabowo Subianto, who is now widely seen as the presumptive winner of the election on Feb. 14.
The informal results show that the Prabowo-Gibran pair has clinched a nearly insurmountable lead of around 58 percent of the vote over rivals Ganjar-Mahfud and Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar, whose teams are reportedly preparing fraud allegations to challenge the election results.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the General Elections Commission (KPU) is to announce the official results on March 20 at the latest.
