Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – Indonesia's burgeoning class of middlemen, ranging from lowly ticket scalpers to the big-game judicial mafia, has welcomed another rapacious entry to its ranks: regional budget middlemen.

State Secretary Sudi Silalahi raised the alarm about the latest incarnation of the breed on Friday when he revealed an attempt by a middleman to disburse funds from the central government to a regional administration.

The middleman, identified only as F, allegedly told the administration of Tasikmalaya, West Java, he could get them a Rp 23 billion ($2.57 million) fund lying idle to use for disaster mitigation and relief.

The middleman later introduced Tasikmalaya officials to someone who claimed to work for the State Secretariat, who was allegedly in a position of authority to release the fund.

The scam, under which the middleman was seeking a cut of the promised fund up front, was exposed when investigators from the Finance Ministry uncovered the fake budget implementation document (DIPA) that he had used.

The ministry also found indications that several regional administrations had used the services of such middlemen to get funds released from Jakarta.

Sudi said his office would investigate the latest incident. "There's an indication the person involved isn't really from the State Secretariat," he said, adding if they were, they would be handed over to the police immediately.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi blamed the regional administration for being so gullible. "It's obviously a fake DIPA if it was presented after the budget for the year has been revised," he said. "Regional administrations are being careless."

Gamawan said these middlemen may have embezzled billions of rupiah in recent years. The case comes after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged greater budget efficiency at central and regional levels.