Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman has dismissed a director with the initials IM for alleged corruption in a procurement project, subsequently reported the high echelon ministry official to the police on August 29, 2024.
“We ordered the case to be reported last week, and now a police summons has been issued,” Amran said on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.
According to Katadata, the only director at the Ministry of Agriculture with the initials IM is Indah Megawati, the Director of Agricultural Financing.
Amran cited that IM violated Article 378 of Law No. 1/2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP) for having misused the name of Fausiah T. Landja, the Director of Agricultural Machinery and Equipment at the Ministry, in a corruption attempt.
IM allegedly asked entrepreneurs involved in the procurement project to deposit an upfront fee of 15 percent to 20 percent of the project value to a broker, claiming it was on behalf of Fausiah.
In response, Amran has ordered a thorough investigation into all reports of brokers involved in procurement projects demanding 20 percent of the budget in exchange for contracts.
He emphasized that any substantiated reports would be forwarded to law enforcement.
“I have instructed the Ministry’s Inspectorate General to report such incidents to law enforcement authorities,” Amran said.
This case is a follow-up to a previous corruption scandal involving former Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) and other officials.
SYL was charged with extortion and accepting gratuities totaling Rp44.5 billion between 2020 and 2023, along with his associates.
SYL has been ordered to pay a restitution of Rp14.14 billion plus US$30,000, with the possibility of asset forfeiture and additional imprisonment if unpaid.
