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Catering businesses fall victim to free meal program fraud
Scammers are exploiting President Prabowo Subianto's free nutritious meal program for fraud, swindling money from catering businesses in several regions who have paid down payments to join as suppliers.
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Students eat lunches on Sept. 26, 2024, as part of a trial of the free nutritious meals program during their break time at school in Sukabumi, West Java. (REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan)
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everal catering businesses in Kediri, East Java fell victim to a fraud scheme, in which they were promised to be the suppliers for President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free nutritious meal program.
Eager to participate, these businesses quickly paid down payments to secure their position as providers for the free meal initiative.
Diah, one of the victims, shared that she was initially offered by a friend, M, on behalf of a community group, to supply 1,000 meal boxes for the program. Later, the friend asked for Rp 1 million (US$62) for the down payment, to which Diah paid twice the amount to secure twice the quota.
However, M never provided clear details about what the down payment was for.
After investigating, Manunggal community group advisor Cipto Roso Nuriko Pramega said M had been expelled from the group.
Cipto said that the group never charged fees, especially to subcontractors. The fees were collected by an individual seeking personal gain, gathering partners for the free nutritious meal program.
Similar frauds have also occurred in other regions.
M. Rauuf Oktavian Nur, head of the Nutritional Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) in Magelang, Central Java, revealed that he had received around five reports of suspected fraud attempts related to the free nutritious meal program in Magelang city and regency from October to December.
Rauuf said his officer had never involved the public for the program without a direct order from the National Nutrition Agency (BGN).
"They were approached by someone claiming to represent BGN, carrying fake identification or a forged decree," Rauuf told Kompas on Sunday.
In response to the growing fraud, BGN urged victims to report the incidents to the police and assured full support for law enforcement in handling the case.
BGN also emphasized its commitment to launching a new trial phase of the free nutritious meal program to assist the community and prevent misuse by irresponsible individuals.
Last week, BGN conducted a trial of the program at 47 SPPG from Dec. 26 to 28. The event took place simultaneously across Banten, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java and Yogyakarta.
