Bagus Pribadi, Jakarta – Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK officially detained the mayor of Bima City, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) for the period 2018-2023, Muhammad Lutfi, over alleged corruption in goods and service procurement, as well as graft in the Bima Administration environment, NTB.
"We detain the first suspect MLI for 20 days starting from October 5 to 24, 2023, in KPK jail for investigation," said KPK chief, Firli Bahuri, in a press conference on Thursday, October 5, 2023.
Firli explained that this case was first found in 2019 when Lutfi, together with a family member, asked for documents on various projects in Bima City's public working and public housing (PUPR) office and regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD).
"The suspect then ordered several officials at Bima's PUPR and BPBD to prepare various projects with huge budget values, and the preparation process was carried out at the official residence of Bima Mayor," he explained.
Meanwhile, the value of the project organized by Lutfi at the PUPR and BPBD of Bima City Administration for 2019-2020 reached tens of billions of rupiah. He, unilaterally, also immediately set the contractors ready to win the tender for the projects even though they did not meet the qualifying requirements.
Therefore, Lutfi received cash deposits from the contractors he won amounting to Rp8.6 billion. The projects include the Nungga Toloweri road expansion project and the electricity procurement of Ol'Foo housing.
"The money is deposited through bank account transfers in the names of MLI's trusted people, including family members," said Firli.
In addition, Lutfi received gratuities in the form of money from other parties. Firli added that KPK would carry out further investigation.
"The suspect is suspected of violating Article 12 letter (1) and/or Article 128 of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes as amended by Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 "Regarding the Eradication of Corruption Crimes," the KPK chief remarked.