AN Indonesian former government minister has been named a suspect in a corruption probe and accused of pocketing 13.9 billion rupiah (RM4.17 million) of public money, a week after resigning.

Syahrul Yasin Limpo, who until recently led the Agriculture Ministry, was the sixth minister investigated over corruption since President Joko Widodo took office in 2014.

Graft remains rampant in the massive archipelago nation, where politicians are widely seen as among the most corrupt.

Limpo regularly took “illegal levies from civil servants at the agricultural ministry to pay for his and his core family’s personal needs”, Johanis Tanak, deputy chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), told a press conference late yesterday.

The politician was accused of forcing ministry officials to send him money from the state coffers monthly, and used the cash to pay credit card bills and instalments on a luxury car.

Two high-ranking officials have also been named, and one of them, the ministry’s secretary-general Kasdi Subagyono, has been detained.

Subagyono was also accused of manipulating job promotions at the ministry.

Limpo, of the National Democratic Party, resigned from his post last week when the KPK announced it was looking into a corruption case involving him and his ministry.

He could face life in prison if found guilty.

Local media reported he was in his hometown of Makassar in South Sulawesi province when he was named a suspect, and he landed in Jakarta this morning.

“So far, we have not questioned him (Limpo) as a suspect and regarding the arrest, it is up to the investigators,” KPK spokesman Ali Fikri told AFP. – AFP, October 12, 2023.