IDNAround – The Military Police Headquarters, or Puspom, has confirmed the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)’s decision to name two active high-ranking military officers as suspects in a graft scandal at the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
Basarnas Head Air Marshal Henri Alfiandi and his subordinate Lie. Col. Afri Budi Cahyanto were arrested by the KPK last week for allegedly accepting billions of rupiah in bribe money from businessmen who won procurement projects from the agency.
“Military Police Headquarters investigators have launched a criminal investigation and named HA and ABC as suspects,” said Military Police Commander Vice Air Marshal Agung Handoko during a joint press conference with the KPK at the military headquarters in East Jakarta on Monday, using initials to identify the suspects.
This decision came after the KPK officially handed over the graft case against the two officers to the Military Police while continuing the prosecution of three civilian suspects in the same case.
Afri, who worked as an administration coordinator at Basarnas, regularly received monthly reports on Basarnas budget spending, including projects, financial values, and the names of project operators.
He then contacted private companies that had completed Basarnas projects and received the full budget to pay him “commando fund.”
“He accepted commando funds from private companies and managed its spending for operational duties of the Basarnas head,” Agung said.
During the KPK raid last week, Afri was arrested for allegedly accepting nearly Rp 1 billion from Marilya, the chief executive officer of Intertekno Grafika Sejati, a company that had won a Basarnas project to supply life detectors with seismic sensors.
Five days earlier, Afri had received a direct order from the Basarnas head to accept money from Marilya, according to Agung.
The case against Marilya; Mulsunadi Gunawan, chief commissioner of Multi Grafika Cipta Sejati; and Roni Aidil, CEO of Kindah Abadi Utama, is being handled by the KPK.
The preliminary investigation by the KPK revealed that Afri took at least Rp 5 billion from the three business executives, with Rp 4 billion channeled via a bank transfer.
The Military Police HQ has received 27 items of evidence, including a laptop, from the KPK, Agung added.
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