Bagus Budi Tama Saragih, Jakarta – Receiving gratuities, kickbacks and bribes has been business as usual for local officials across the country in the past two decades, reveals a study by Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW).
The study was released following the finding of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that 27 regional banks had channeled funds to regional leaders' accounts between 2002 and 2008.
The banks included Bank Sumut in North Sumatra, which allegedly channeled Rp 53.81 billion (US$5.76 million), Bank Jabar Banten in West Java (Rp148.29 billion), Bank Jateng in Central Java (Rp 51.06 billion), Bank Jatim in East Java (Rp 71.48 billion), Bank Kaltim in East Kalimantan (Rp 18.59 billion) and Bank DKI in Jakarta (Rp 17.07 billion).
ICW deputy coordinator Adnan Topan Husodo said such practices could be considered as "gratuities" or "bribery" because they led to a conflict of interest.
"The banks gave the money as repayments to the governors for depositing regional budget funds at the banks," he said, adding that such practices had been carried out for at least 20 years.
The funds, usually originating from the interest on the regional budget deposits, were transferred to the governors' personal accounts or used to finance state officials' travel and the weddings of governors' children, Adnan said.
According to the 2001 Anti-Corruption Law, government officials are prohibited from receiving gifts in any forms from parties that may cause a conflict of interest. Bank Indonesia (BI) also issued a regulation in 2005 banning banks from giving special interest rates or gifts to government officials.
Adnan alleged that the illegal fees from the regional banks were not the only illicit income received by local leaders.
Leo Nugroho, a former State Audit Agency (BPKP) auditor turned activist urged the government to abolish such practices. "Top officials in the country always complain about their small salaries, without ever mentioning that they also receive additional income from other sources," he said.
"Now that the government has given top officials a raise in salary, there should be no further reason for them to continue the practice," he said, urging the commission to investigate all recipients of gratuities as such practices were criminal.
The antigraft body has named a suspect in the case. Last month, former Bank Jatim director Umar Syarifuddin was named a suspect in the alleged embezzlement of Rp 37 billion between 2003 and 2004.
Umar had allegedly siphoned the money from the bank's 33 provincial branches and kept it in his personal interest including to "serve" local government officials.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that other findings on gratuities would soon go to the investigation stage if the recipients were reluctant to repay the funds back to the state.