Police Impose Overseas Travel Ban On North Maluku Governor

Jakarta, Oct 16 (ANTARA) - Police have imposed an overseas travel ban on North Maluku Governor Thaib Armaiyn for his alleged involvement in a graft case, a police spokesman said. "The investigation of his case is still going on. He is neither arrested nor detained but is banned from traveling abroad," the head of the public information bureau at the Indonesian Police Headquarters, Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said, on Monday. Boy was clarifying an unconfirmed report that Thaib had been arrested at Sam Ratulangi Airport in the North Sulawesi provincial capital of Manado. A report had it that Thaib was arrested last Friday when he had a stop at the airport en route to Jakarta. Thaib who is now serving his second term of office as North Maluku governor is accused of embezzling Rp6.7 billion in contingency fund in 2004. The graft case came to the light only in 2006. A number of North Maluku provincial officials have been named suspects in the case. They are identified by their initials as RZ, JN, RA and RA. Police have set no date to further question Thaib. Boy went on to say the police handled 885 corruption cases in the year to October 2012.