Jakarta – East Kalimantan Prosecutors Office head Faried Harianto said on Thursday that petty corruption is acceptable and should not be investigated. He urged all public officials to play smart so as not to be caught.

"[Public] officials should be smart, don't let it [corruption] be detected. I am not saying it is allowed. Law enforcers should be wise; petty corruption is alright. A little mark up shouldn't be a problem," Faried said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Thursday.

He was talking at a briefing titled "Corruption Prevention Efforts" in front of Berau administration officials.

He said his office would only handle corruption cases involving large sums of money. He said to investigate such small cases would cause state loses. "In the Corruption Court, the operational fees of prosecutors can reach hundreds of millions of rupiah to attend a trial in Samarinda.

If the corruption took place in Berau for example, the prosecutors would need to go back and forth to investigate and interrogate witnesses, whereas the corruption amount is only Rp 20 million," he said.