Illustrative image. (www.aljazeera.com) Hanoi (VNA) – Several politicians with key roles in Indonesian President Joko Widodo's governing coalition have been caught up in a corruption scandal in which they allegedly pilfered more than 170 million USD of government money.
The justice minister, the current speaker of parliament, a former interior minister and provincial governors are among those named in an indictment presented to a special corruption court on March 9, at the start of a trial of two Interior Ministry officials, who were charged with receiving 4.4 million USD. Prosecutors said the rest of the stolen 172 million USD was distributed among the dozens of other people involved.
Meanwhile, local media reported that the parliament speaker and the justice minister denied their involvement.
Indonesia's anti-corruption police alleged that a network of about 80 conspirators and several companies used the introduction of a 440 million USD electronic identity card system in 2011 and 2012 to steal more than a third of the funds.-VNA
