DENPASAR – Immigration officers at Bali’s main airport have escaped criminal charges following an investigation into alleged embezzlement offences.
The 44 officers have been under investigation for embezzling an estimated US$294,000 in visa-on-arrival fees between October 2008 and May 2009.
A Kompas report, carried by Bali Update (www.balidiscovery.com) said a decision has been made by the Immigration Department to limit punishments to only disciplinary and administrative sanctions.
In announcing the settlement of the case, the director general of immigration, Basyir Ahmad Barmawi, told the officers that they were “all considered like children or younger brothers and sisters whose mistakes can be remediedâ€.
Following an investigation by the State Audit Board (BPK), a decision has been made to reduce the rank of the offending officers and order them to repay the missing cash.
The money to be repaid by each of the 44 immigration officers varies from between US$6,800 – US$9,800.
The deal with the authorities meant the 44 immigration officers avoided criminal proceedings.
Investigators concluded that the officers colluded to embezzle the visa fees by surrendering only a US$10 fees for a 7-day visa when, in fact, US$25 had been collected for a 30-day visa by arriving tourists.
The visa fees of approximately 20,000 foreign tourists were misappropriated in this manner during the investigation period.
