Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday searched the office of directorate general of demography and vital statistics at the home affairs ministry to probe alleged corruption charges in procuring electronic identification cards (e-KTP).

"In connection with the investigation (of the alleged graft case), we searched a number of places today including the office of the directorate general of demography and vital statistics in Kalibata, South Jakarta," stated KPK spokesman Johan Budi.

On Tuesday, the KPK named the director of demographic administration information management, identified by the initial S, as a suspect in the case.

The KPK believes that S had abused his power in the project, which was worth Rp6 trillion.

"As usual, the KPK will expand its probe to check the involvement of other parties. But, all this will depend on the result of the investigation to decide whether there are two pieces of adequate evidence that point to the involvement of other parties," he explained.

Information about the alleged graft case came to light after the KPK received tip-offs from the public in 2012.

"This is the publics complaint. Of course, one of the pieces of information might come from M. Nazaruddin, but the report did not serve as a basis for conducting investigation. A group of people have reported it (the alleged graft case) to the KPK," he stated, referring to the former treasurer of the Democrat Party, who is currently serving prison term on a corruption conviction.

In September 2013, Nazaruddin informed the KPK about alleged corruption in the procurement of E-KTP, including the alleged flow of funds to a number of House of Representatives (DPR) members.

The E-KTP program was carried out in 2011 and 2012.

The first phase of the program, which targeted 67 million citizens, was started in August 2011. During the implementation phase, the program encountered several problems related to the availability and distribution of necessary instruments.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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