Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The North Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office has arrested the province's health agency chief for alleged corruption worth Rp 24 billion (US$1.54 million) in the procurement of personal protection equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The prosecutor's office chief Idianto said Alwi Mujahit Hasibuan and private company executive Robby Messa Nura would be detained for the next 20 days.
Idianto said Alwi allegedly approved a budget of Rp 39.9 billion for the procurement, which was found to have been marked up.
The prosecutor's office is digging into the case for possible other suspects. Idianto said they were also working with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) in tracing the funds.
In November, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced it was investigating allegations of corruption in the procurement of pandemic PPE at the Health Ministry with a projected value of Rp 3.03 trillion. The KPK alleged the corruption to have caused losses to state finances amounting to hundreds of billions of rupiah. (dre)