Indonesia detains former officials in road project and election grant corruption cases

Former Maluku Public Works and Spatial Planning head Ismail Usemahu and three associates were transferred to the Maluku High Prosecutor’s Office on 23 July 2026 and placed in detention facilities in Ambon for a 20‑day period. They are accused of corrupting the 2023 Danar‑Tetoat road maintenance project (DAK Tematik‑05). Two suspects were held in a women’s prison in Ambon, while the other two were kept in a male detention center.

In a separate case, former chair of the South Bengkulu Election Commission, Erina Okriani, received a sentence of five years and ten months’ imprisonment on 23 July 2026 for misappropriating election‑grant funds. The court also imposed a fine of 100 million rupiah, a 60‑day custodial penalty, and ordered replacement payments of about 480 million rupiah for the state loss estimated at 1.6 billion rupiah. Both prosecutions were based on audits and investigations indicating the use of fictitious travel expenses and other irregularities.