Anti-graft Body Seizes Several Documents from Home Ministry

Jakarta (Antara) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) seized several electronic documents while searching the offices of the home affairs ministry and private company to probe the alleged corruption charges in procuring electronic identification cards (e-KTP), on Tuesday. "During the search in several places, investigators seized several documents in paper and electronic forms. So we only seized documents," KPK spokesman Johan Budi stated here on Wednesday. On Tuesday, KPK investigators searched several places related to the alleged graft case, including the home affairs minister's room, the office of the Directorate General of Demography and Vital Statistics at the Home Affairs Ministry and the office of PT Quadra Solution on the seventh floor of Menara Duta building in South Jakarta. Johan predicted that the alleged graft case led to a state loss of Rp1.1 trillion. "According to rough calculation at investigation level, the loss reaches Rp1.12 trillion. The budget allocation for the project was disbursed in two phases, with the first phase involving around Ep2 trillion in 2011 and the second phase involving more than Rp3 trillion in 2012. In total, the budget allocation reached Rp6 trillion," he explained. The KPK alleged that the project was marked up particularly when it came to unit prices used in the procurement of e-KTP, he pointed out. Also on Tuesday, the KPK named the Director of Demographic Administration Information Management, identified by the initial S, as a suspect in the case. The KPK believes that S had abused his power in the project, which was worth Rp6 trillion. "As usual, the KPK will expand its probe to check the involvement of other parties. But, all this will depend on the result of the investigation to decide whether there are two pieces of adequate evidence that point to the involvement of other parties," Johan explained on Tuesday. Information about the alleged graft case came to light after the KPK received tip-offs from the public in 2012. "This is the public's complaint. Of course, one of the pieces of information might come from M. Nazaruddin, but the report did not serve as a basis for conducting investigation. A group of people have reported it (the alleged graft case) to the KPK," he stated, referring to the former treasurer of the Democrat Party, who is currently serving prison term on a corruption conviction. In September 2013, Nazaruddin informed the KPK about alleged corruption in the procurement of E-KTP, including the alleged flow of funds to a number of House of Representatives (DPR) members. (*)