Farouk Arnaz – Though under attack from the public for allegedly fabricating a case against the Corruption Eradication Commission, the National Police have seemingly begun a new investigation into the antigraft agency.

A police source told the Jakarta Globe over the weekend that they were looking into irregularities inside the commission, or KPK, related to a case involving the Social Affairs Ministry two years ago.

"We suspect that the KPK did not handle this case properly," said the source, a senior investigator speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The commission was supposed to name suspects in the case but they dropped the case instead. What's going on?" He refused to give further details.

In 2007, the KPK questioned the Social Affairs Ministry's director general for social empowerment, Gunawan Sumodiningrat, as part of an investigation into funds intended for low-income residents.

Gunawan was the third person to be questioned as part of the investigation, after the head of the ministry's empowerment of the poor division, Sonny W Manalu, and Akib Masri, an expert staff member at the ministry.

The investigation was opened in response to a 2005 audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) of the program. That audit found at least 70 suspicious transactions, totaling Rp 287.89 billion ($30.5 million), including unauthorized expenditures and also non-target disbursements, including a procurement budget for sewing machines and beef cattle.

In 2004, the Social Affairs Ministry worked with PT Ladang Sutera Indonesia (Lasindo) on the procurement of 6,000 sewing machines for Rp 19.49 billion.

A spokesman for the KPK, Johan Budi, could not be reached for comment on Sunday. Media reports quoted him as saying earlier that the case at the Social Affairs Ministry was still under investigation and that no one had yet been named a suspect.