PIKIRAN RAKYAT - Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK) has arrested five former members of the Regional Representative Council (DPRD) of Jambi Province, who served during the 2014–2019 period, in connection with alleged bribery related to the approval of the Regional Budget Draft (RAPBD) for the fiscal years of 2017–2018. Previously, these five former DPRD members had been declared suspects.
According to the Acting Deputy of Enforcement at KPK, Asep Guntur, the suspects have been detained for 20 days, starting from May 8th, 2023, until May 27th, 2023. "Regarding the need for investigation, the investigation team has detained five suspects, each with an initial detention period of 20 days," said Asep on Monday, May 8th, 2023.
The five suspects who were arrested are Nasri Umar (NU), Muhammad Isroni (MI), Abdul Salam Haji Daud (ASHD), Djamaluddin (DL), and Hasan Ibrahim (HI). They are currently being detained in the KPK detention center for the first 20 days.
"Allegedly, the case involved the RAPBD Jambi for the fiscal years of 2017-2018, which contained various infrastructure projects with a project value of billions of rupiah previously prepared by the Jambi provincial government," said Asep.
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The suspects, including MU and his colleagues who were DPRD members at the time, allegedly requested a sum of money under the term "ketok palu" (a slang term for the sound of a gavel used to close a meeting) from Zumi Zola, who was the Governor of Jambi Province at the time, to approve the RAPBD for the fiscal years of 2017-2018.
"Upon that request, Zumi Zola, through his trusted person, Paut Syakarin, who was a businessman, prepared around Rp2.3 billion in funds," Asep revealed.
The bribe money, which was received, was then distributed according to the position of each suspect in the DPRD, ranging from Rp100 million to Rp400 million per member. KPK suspected that Paut Syakarin handed over Rp1.9 billion to Effendi Hatta and Zainal Abidin as representatives of MU and his colleagues.
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"With the bribe money, the RAPBD Jambi for the fiscal years 2017–2018 was approved," added Asep.