Former Minister Budi Arie Setiadi Questioned Over Corruption Allegations
In a significant development, the Directorate of Special Criminal Investigations (Ditreskrimsus) of the Metropolitan Jaya Regional Police (Polda Metro Jaya) summoned former Minister of Communication and Digital (Komdigi), Budi Arie Setiadi, for questioning on Thursday, December 19, 2024. The summons relates to alleged corruption involving the minister.
Komisaris Besar Ade Safri Simanjuntak, Director of Ditreskrimsus Polda Metro Jaya, confirmed the development, stating that the investigation is ongoing. "We are investigating allegations of corruption in the case," he said via a WhatsApp message on Thursday, December 19, 2024.
Notably, the questioning of Budi Arie is not connected to the online gambling case involving Komdigi officials. Instead, he is being questioned as a suspect in a separate corruption case. Despite this, Budi Arie’s status remains that of a suspect.
Ade Safri did not elaborate on the specific corruption charges, only stating that the allegations emerged during the investigation into the online gambling case within Komdigi. The case, which involved 24 individuals, including nine Komdigi officials, gained attention due to the officials’ role in blocking online gambling sites, which they were supposed to shut down, but instead profited from by accepting bribes.
The officials, tasked with blocking online gambling sites, were given access to view and block these websites. They would block the sites every two weeks, but only if the site owners did not pay a ‘protection fee’ of Rp 8.5 million per site to Adhi Kismanto (AK).
Budi Arie, who was the Minister of Communication and Informatics at the time, was questioned about the development of the online gambling case investigation handled by Ditreskrimum Polda Metro Jaya. He arrived at the Bareskrim Polri around 10:00 WIB on Thursday, December 19, 2024.
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