National Police Found 92 Covid-19 Social Assistance Funds Misuse Cases

LiputanIslam.com – The Head of Public Information Division of the National Police’s Divhumas Kombes Pol Ahmad Ramadhan said the National Police had found at least 92 cases of alleged misappropriation of COVID-19 social assistance funds (bansos) throughout Indonesia.

“From the data received, there are 92 cases of misappropriation of social assistance funds that are being handled by 18 regional police,” said Kombes Pol Ramadan at the Jakarta Police Criminal Investigation Office, Tuesday (7/21).

Ramadhan added, from 92 cases of misappropriation of funds, 38 cases were handled by North Sumatra Regional Police, 12 cases by West Java Regional Police, eight by West Nusa Tenggara Regional Police, and seven Riau Regional Police, four by South Sulawesi Regional Police.

Banten Regional Police, East Java Regional Police, East Nusa Tenggara Regional Police, and Central Sulawesi Regional Police handled three cases. North Maluku Regional Police and South Sumatra Regional Police each handled two cases.

Central Kalimantan Regional Police, Riau Islands Regional Police, West Sulawesi Regional Police, West Sumatra Regional Police, North Kalimantan Regional Police, and Lampung Regional Police and West Papua Regional Police each handled one case.

Based on the investigation results, the motives for misuse of social assistance are funding cuts and unequal distribution. The deduction of funds was deliberately carried out by village officials to encourage justice for those who did not receive it. However, this was already known and agreed upon by the beneficiary.

Other motives are backsheesh, reduction in the balance of basic food packages, and lack of transparency in distributing funds. (ra/Ay / Antara / Liputan6)