A worker carries bags of social aid on April 22 at the Gudang Food Station in Cipinang, Jakarta. - Photo: Antara file
JAKARTA: The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) estimates state losses of around Rp 125 billion (US$7.6 million) from a new corruption case it is investigating that centers around the distribution of food aid during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The case involves alleged foul play in the distribution of government-funded social aid (bansos) to people who were badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in Greater Jakarta in 2020.
The social assistance program was under the Social Affairs Ministry but initiated by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, therefore lending his name to the program called “bansos president”.
“The initial estimate for losses is around Rp 125 billion, but we are still calculating it,” KPK spokesperson Tessa Mahardhika Sugiarto said on Wednesday (June 26), as quoted by Kompas.com.
The KPK opened the investigation recently after investigators found evidence from a 2023 probe into corruption in the distribution of rice to recipients of the government-funded social assistance Family Hope Program (PKH) from 2020 to 2021.
KPK investigators on Tuesday named Ivo Wongkaren, an executive of a private company, a suspect in their investigation, and questioned several witnesses including two officials from the Social Affairs Ministry.
Ivo allegedly acted on behalf of one of the vendors supplying food aid during the pandemic: PT Anomali Lumbung Artha (ALA).
“His modus operandi is to reduce the quality of the aid,” Tessa said.
The investigation is an expansion of the rice aid corruption scandal that sent Ivo to prison for eight years earlier this month.
In addition to Ivo, three former executives of state-owned logistics company PT Bhanda Ghara Reksa Logistik and an executive and an advisor of a private company were also found guilty of corruption by the Jakarta Corruption Court.
The five convicts were sentenced to between five and six years in prison.
Antigraft activists have repeatedly warned of potential corruption or misuse of Covid-19 aid by officials in the central and regional administrations.
In another corruption case involving the distribution of social aid during the pandemic, then social affairs minister Juliari was convicted in 2021 of accepting Rp 32.48 billion in bribes from private vendors that supplied Covid-19 food aid.
The former politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is now serving 12 years in prison.
The KPK said that Juliari’s bribery case has not yet been connected to the ongoing investigation.
Juliari is succeeded by Tri “Risma” Rismaharini, also from the PDI-P, the largest party in the country which parted ways with outgoing President Jokowi after he allowed his eldest son to run for vice president on the ticket PDI-P’s rival in the February presidential election.
Social aid distribution ahead of the presidential election was also at the center of two cases filed with the Constitutional Court by losing candidates Ganjar Pranowo of the PDI-P and Anies Baswedan.
Anies and Ganjar challenged the victory of Prabowo Subianto, whose running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka is Jokowi’s son.
But the court upheld the results, rejecting the claims by Prabowo’s rivals that Jokowi had used state resources, including social aid, to sway voters in favor of the Prabowo-Gibran pair as part of his attempt to maintain his grip on power after leaving office later this year. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
