Jakarta (ANTARA) – Investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) announced that they had escalated the status of an alleged corruption case at the Ministry of Agriculture to the investigation stage.”The KPK investigation team found sufficient evidence to escalate the process to the investigation stage,” head of the KPK’s media department, Ali Fikri, stated during a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.
He noted that KPK investigators had named several parties as suspects in the case.
However, the KPK cannot yet announce the suspect names since the investigation and evidence collection process is still ongoing, he remarked.
“We have our own standard operating procedures (SOP) for naming a suspect. It will be announced soon,” Fikri stated.
In future, he noted that details of the case, the suspected parties, the evidence, and the violated law will be presented by the KPK after the investigation process is declared complete.
Earlier, KPK investigators also conducted a search at the official residence of Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo in the Widya Chandra Complex, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, on Thursday (September 28).
Earlier, on June 14, 2023, the KPK announced to open an investigation regarding an alleged corruption case at the Ministry of Agriculture. This information was announced by the acting head of KPK’s Enforcement and Execution Deputy, Asep Guntur Rahayu.
The KPK has also summoned Minister Limpo on June 19, 2023, to provide information regarding the alleged corruption case at his ministry.
In addition, the KPK has questioned 49 officials and state civil servants (ASN) at the ministry and analyzed statements from various parties and collected various pieces of evidence.
If based on this analysis a criminal act is found and a person can be legally responsible, the KPK will immediately follow up the case by escalating the process to the investigation stage.
The KPK did not rule out the possibility of re-questioning the 49 people, if necessary, for the sake of the ongoing investigation process.
Source: Antara News Agency