A police task force has uncovered two cases of illegal levies in Brebes and Blora regencies in Central Java.

In Brebes, a village head in Sirampong district allegedly demanded Rp 1 million for every land certificate that his office helped to issue last year, despite the central government having announced that the land certification program is free of charge.    

(Read also: Illegal levies task force vows to create deterrents for civil servants)

A former local councilor in Blora, along with three husbandry agency officials, allegedly conspired to embezzle government grants aimed to help  60 farmer groups purchase cattle in 2014. The suspects reportedly took 10 to 50 percent of the funds allocated to each farmer group. The Supreme Audit Agency estimated that a total of Rp 1 billion of state losses had been incurred by the crimes.

“The village head has delivered 210 certificates. We have confirmed that he took levies from 204 land owners,” said Central Java special crimes director Sr. Comr. Lukas Akbar Abriari.  

He also said the village head shared the illegal levies with three other village officials. (wit)

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