Indonesia minister arrested over pandemic aid corruption
Indonesia's sociable affairs minister was arrested Sunday for allegedly spending $1.2 million in bribes linked to food aid for all those hit by the corona virus pandemic.Juliari Batubara was named as a suspect after Indonesian anti-corruption brokers seized suitcases, backpacks and envelopes filled with cash equal to $1.2 million in a sting procedure on Saturday.
He turned himself in on Sunday at the anti-corruption agency's headquarters, becoming the next minister in President Joko Widodo's federal government to be arrested above alleged graft in recent weeks. "That's the people's funds... it's aid urgently had a need to support during Covid-19 and for the nationwide economic recovery," Widodo explained after Batubara's arrest, vowing he would not defend any corrupt officials.
Indonesia's market - Southeast Asia's biggest - possesses been struck hard by the pandemic, and the government possesses rolled out help programs such as for example food packages to greatly help those in want. Batubara features been accused of involvement in a bribery scheme associated with one particular aid project.
Officials experience alleged that he received a lot more than $1 million from two contractors which were appointed to provide basic food packages for people afflicted by the pandemic. For every deal, Batubara would receive 10,000 rupiah, or $0.71, officials alleged. If determined guilty, he could face up to twenty years in prison and an excellent of 1 billion rupiah ($70,000).
