Basarnas Head Accused of Accepting Rp 88B Bribe Money

Jakarta, Indonesianpost.com – Henri Alfiandi, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), was named a suspect on Wednesday for allegedly accepting Rp 88.3 billion ($5.9 million) in bribe money following recent raids by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

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Henri, 58, who retired from the Air Force as a vice air marshal, has accepted bribe money from various vendors who were awarded procurement projects during his tenure at Basarnas, which began in 2021, KPK Deputy Chairman Alexander Marwata said in a news conference in Jakarta.

The latest payment was discovered during Tuesday’s raids, with Henri and a subordinate allegedly accepting Rp 5 billion from businessmen who were awarded by Basarnas with the project to supply life detector devices, safety diving equipment, and other search and rescue (SAR) equipment.

The raids were conducted based on a tipoff about an imminent payment to a Basarnas official near a bank office inside the compound of the Indonesian Military headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta.

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During the raid, Lieu. Col. Afri Budi Cahyanto, the administration coordinator with Basarnas, was arrested, and a bag containing nearly Rp 1 billion of banknotes was found in the trunk of his car.
It was revealed that a separate payment amounting to Rp 4 billion was made by bank transfer, leading to the arrests of other suspects, Alexander said.

In total, there are five suspects in the case, including Henri, Afri, and three businessmen from the awarded vendors. Their identities have been revealed as Mulsunadi Gunawan, chief commissioner of Multi Grafika Cipta Sejati; Marilya, CEO of Intertekno Grafika Sejati; and Roni Aidil, CEO of Kindah Abadi Utama.

Further investigation revealed that it’s not the first time Henri and Afri have received illegal payments from vendors, Alexander said without going into details.

Both suspects will face a joint investigation by the KPK and the military authority while the three businessmen will be prosecuted by the KPK, Alexander said.