Eras Poke

Graft Suspect Arrested While Trying to Flee NTT

Kupang. An East Nusa Tenggara businessman suspected of involvement in a case resulting in Rp 3.5 billion ($378,000) in losses from a district budget was apprehended on Thursday as he was attempting to leave the province.

Samuel Matutina, who is alleged to have illegally borrowed more than Rp 3.5 billion from the Ende district administration between 2005 and 2008, was arrested by police at Kupang’s El Tari Airport.

“Now he’s undergoing further investigation,” said Muib, the spokesman for the provincial prosecutor’s office.

On Wednesday, another suspect in the graft case, the district’s former regional secretary, Muhammad Iskandar Mberu, was detained by the provincial prosecutor’s office after being questioned for nine hours.

Faried Hariyanto, the head of the prosecutor’s office, said they had strong evidence that Iskandar was involved in the misuse of the district budget.

Prosecutors have also named Ende’s former district chief, Paulinus Domi, as a suspect in the ongoing investigation.

Iskandar’s lawyers, Louis Balun and Abdul Wahab, said his questioning revolved around his tasks while regional secretary and the use of the Ende district budget to rent an airplane from Samuel.

“We respect the prosecutors’ decision to arrest our client,” Balun said.

“However, we will try to make a request to defer his detainment since we believe that our client will not try to flee or tamper with evidence.”

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