Investigators will question all central bank officials relevant to the probe. - PHOTO: REUTERS
JAKARTA (Reuters): Indonesia's anti-graft agency raided the headquarters of the central bank in Jakarta on Monday in relation to a probe into alleged mishandling of a corporate social responsibility programme, the agency and the central bank said.
The office of Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo was among those raided, where investigators took documents and electronic devices related to the programme, deputy chief investigator Rudi Setiawan told reporters on Tuesday.
The anti-graft agency suspected that the central bank had donated some of its CSR funds to several foundations improperly, Setiawan said.
"We've already had two suspects that we allege had received funds from BI's CSR," Setiawan said. He declined to provide names, nor the size of the funds, but he said the money flow was "quite big".
Investigators would question all central bank officials relevant to the probe, he said.
BI said it respected the investigation and would cooperate with the anti-graft agency.
The agency in September had said it was investigating CSR programmes run by financial regulators in 2023, including the central bank, for potential misuse of funds for personal gain, according to local media.
Warjiyo in September said BI had cooperated with the probe, but defended the governance of its CSR funds.
"We can ensure that CSR or BI's social programmes have strong regulatory governance and their decision-making process is through stages," Warjiyo told a press conference at the time.
BI typically donates to education, social empowerment or religious foundations.
The beneficiaries are selected following a survey and must meet a set of requirements, Warjiyo said at the time, adding the board of governors decides on the size of such donations.
The central bank allocated 1.6 trillion rupiah ($99.66 million) in 2023 for social programmes and projects supporting micro-, small- and medium-enterprises, as well as price stabilisation measures, according to BI budget documents provided to parliament.
There was no breakdown of or details about the use of the funds.
The raid happened a day before the central bank started its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with its decision due to be announced on Wednesday. It is expected to keep policy rates unchanged, according to a narrow majority of economists polled by Reuters.
($1 = 16,055.0000 rupiah) (Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Martin Petty, Sam Holmes and Ros Russell)
