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.
Arrested Talaud regent didn’t want same bag as fellow regent: KPK
The KPK says it has intercepted communication between a regent and her right-hand man in which the regent detailed what brand of bag and size of watch she wanted.
Change Size
Corruption Eradication Commission deputy chairperson Basaria Panjaitan (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
S
ri Wahyumi Maria Manalip, the regent of Talaud Islands in North Sulawesi, was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday for allegedly soliciting bribes from contractors in the form of luxury handbags and jewelry.
According to the anticorruption body, Sri did not want just any luxury goods. The KPK said it intercepted communication between her and her right-hand man, Benhur Lalenoh, another suspect in the case, detailing what brand of bag and size of watch she wanted.
“[They] spoke about a request for an Hermes bag, and the regent did not want to get the same model owned by another female [regent] in [North Sumatra],” KPK deputy chairwoman Basaria Panjaitan said in a press conference on Tuesday night.
Sri, who lost her reelection bid last year, is the wife of a judge in North Sulawesi and known for her interests in extreme sports and the high life.
She stands accused of asking contractors for a 10 percent fee in return for awarding them projects in Talaud regency.
Besides Sri and Benhur, a businessman named Bernard Halafi Kalalo was also arrested by the KPK after he had bought two handbags, a Rolex watch and diamond jewelry in Jakarta, items believed to have been intended for bribing Sri. (kmt)
