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nvestigators are probing allegations of problems in the disbursement of Central Java’s 2011 social aid budget, among other allocations, that may have led to Rp 26.89 billion (US$2.8 million) in state losses.

Sudjono, the local representative of the Finance and Development Controller’s Office (BPKP), said that the local BPKP office and the Central Java Prosecutors’ Office had been investigating the claims after a report by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) said in June that the funds might have been inappropriately disbursed.

“We have set up a team including all the prosecutors’ offices across Central Java so that the investigation can be conducted simultaneously and thoroughly,” Sudjono said in Semarang, the provincial capital, on Wednesday.

In its report, the BPK said that a large amount of funds had been disbursed without accountability reports, while other money was disbursed to recipients residing at fictitious addresses.

The report said that of the 208 mass organizations and non-governmental organizations reported to have received the funds, only five percent were officially registered organizations.

Meanwhile, Wilhelmus Lingitubun, the office’s Assistant Prosecutor for Special Investigations, said that his peers in prosecutor’s offices across the province were involved in the investigation, which he said involved fraudulent disbursements throughout Central Java.

No suspects have been named in the case, Wilhelmus said. The scope of the inquiry meant that it would be some time before indictments could be issued.

Wilhelmus said that prosecutors were currently investigating at the local grassroots to the elite level so that no perpetrators could escape justice.

“We are all in motion,” Wilhelmus said.

According to the BPK audit of the Central Java financial report that was released in May, there were six line-item expenditures that were prone to disbursement problems.

The areas are relief funds, goods and service grants, the provincial budget expenditure allocated for regency and municipality budgets, interim budget aid, the realization of regional activities and equity funds.

“We are now focusing on the social funds first,” he said.

Anticorruption activist Eko Haryanto of the Central Java Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism Investigation and Eradication Committee (KP2KKN) said that social funds were frequently misused, especially ahead of regional elections.

Such monies, Eko said, were usually misappropriated by particular politicians to be used as capital to win voters’ supports.

Eko called on law-enforcement agencies to be aware of such practices.

“Preventive measures need to be done by improving vigilance. If misappropriation found, stern action is urgent,” he said.