We have written to the secretary of the West Sumatra Provincial Legislative Council to get the documents and are waiting (for the documents).
Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA) - West Sumatra Provincial Police is investigating two companies in connection with a fraud involving budget funds allocated for the handling of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.



The two companies have been accused of supplying hand sanitizers to the West Sumatra Provincial Disaster Mitigation Board (BPBD) at unfair prices, chief of the public relations section of the West Sumatra Provincial Police, Senior Commissioner Satake Bayu, informed here on Wednesday.



"We continue to collect evidence and information to disclose the case,” he said.



Police have so far interrogated seven people in connection with the case, including member of the West Sumatra Provincial Legislative Assembly (DPRD), Nofrizon, chief of the rehabilitation section of BPBD in West Sumatra, Suryadi, and the treasurer of BPBD in West Sumatra.



The Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation has summoned three representatives of the two companies for questioning, he said.



Investigators have sought several documents from the BPBD in relation to the purchase of medical supplies using COVID-19 budget funds, he added.



Meanwhile, chief of the Corruption Crime Subdirectorate of the West Sumatra Provincial Police, Commissioner Agung B, said his agency has collected several documents from the BPBD and is waiting for a report on the State Audit Board’s findings on the utilization of the COVID-19 budget.



“We have written to the secretary of the West Sumatra Provincial Legislative Council to get the documents and are waiting (for the documents),” he informed.



"We have also involved external parties and conducted a case reconstruction at each phase of the process," he said.



In response to a report of BPBD returning budget funds, he said the police will seek evidence of the funds returned.



"If they have returned it, we will ask for the evidence of the returned funds and will conduct an evaluation, which will involve a crime expert and a corruption crime expert,” he added.


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Translator: Mario Sofia N/Suharto
Editor: Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani
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