"Fadel distributed the unspent budget among 45 members of the Gorontalo provincial legislative assembly (DPRD), without a strong legal basis, when he was Gorontalo governor," assistant for special crime to the chief of the Gorontalo provincial public prosecutor`s office, Mohammad Sunarto, said here on Wednesday.
Sunarto stated the act was against the law because it was merely based on a joint decision with the chief of the Gorontalo provincial legislative assembly, Amir Piola Isa.
The public prosecutor`s office had suspended the investigation of the case for lack of evidence. It resumed the investigation on May 14, 2012, after the district court ruled in favour of the Gorontalo Corruption Watch`s pre-trial suit.
Sunarto said the public prosecutor`s office was focusing on finding new evidence in the case which sent the former chief of the Gorontalo provincial legislative assembly to jail.
He noted Fadel had also been named a witness in the embezzlement of budget funds worth Rp7.9 billion, which were allocated for the procurement of medical devices in 2005.
"The public prosecutor`s office was in the process of summoning Fadel for questioning," Sunarto said.
Former chief of the Gorontalo provincial health office Thamrin Podungge has also been named a suspect in the graft case.
Earlier, the court sentenced acting contractor Richard to four years` imprisonment for his involvement in the graft case. The verdict was three and a half years less than what the public prosecutor`s office had earlier sought.
Sunarto said his office had appealed against the verdict.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
