Jakarta. The Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, detained a police officer on Tuesday for allegedly misusing his authority and accepting at least Rp 50 billion ($3.2 million) in bribe money.

Adjunct Chief Commissioner Bambang Kayun, who serves at the legal division of the National Police headquarters in Jakarta, was arrested for his handling of an inheritance dispute over the assets of shipping company Aria Citra Mulia.

Bambang has allegedly helped a party in the dispute by misusing his authority and influence at the police headquarters and in return he was paid around Rp 6 billion, KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri told a news conference in Jakarta.

Further investigation revealed that the officer had accepted at least Rp 50 billion from multiple sources who used his services in various cases since 2016, Firli added.

"The suspect has taken payments in stage allegedly as bribes in relation to his duty from multiple parties totaling around Rp 50 billion," Firli said.

Bambang leads a unit tasked with the provision of legal support and criminal law implementation at the police headquarters.

The case stemmed from a document forgery complaint filed with the National Police’s criminal investigation agency against two individuals identified as Emilya Said and Herwansyah as part of the inheritance dispute.

The accused met with Bambang in May 2016 and asked him to help them get away from prosecution. They also discussed the rewards if Bambang could save them from the criminal investigation, Firli said.

The officer advised the two to formally apply for legal protection from the National Police’s legal division -- of which Bambang was a member -- using the pretext that the case has been rigged.

In October 2016, the application was discussed by members of the legal division including Bambang and they concluded that a “miscarriage of justice” had occurred during the investigation into the document forgery case, Firli said.

However, the criminal investigation agency continued with the case and named the accused as criminal suspects.

Under Bambang’s instruction, the two suspects requested a pre-trial hearing and presented the “miscarriage of justice” argument produced by the National Police’s legal division, prompting the Central Jakarta District Court to declare their naming of suspects unlawful.

In April 2021, Emilya and Herwansyah were renamed suspects and they turned to Bambang again for his help with another payment, Firli said.

Both suspects eventually fled justice and remained at large, he added.

The KPK will expand the investigation to implicate more potential suspects in the case, Firli said. He didn’t explain other sources Bambang got the money from.

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