This material belongs to: Reuters.
JAKARTA (Reuters) – An Indonesian prosecutor has named 18 people as suspects in a graft case related to the erection of an anti-corruption monument meant to champion probity in public affairs.
The monument was inaugurated in the Riau province city of Pekanbaru last December by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Chairman Agus Rahardjo to mark International Anti-Corruption Day.
Sugeng Riyanta, special crime assistant at the Riau Prosecutor’s Office, said that 13 public servants and five private sector officials were suspected of fraud and corruption that caused the state losses of 1.23 billion rupiah ($91,000).
Riyanta said the investigation would center on the selection of the contractor and the quality of the materials used to build the monument.
President Joko Widodo has pledged to tackle corruption, which has long been a scourge of business and government in Indonesia. The country ranked 90th out of 176 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions index last year.
