A Corruption Hattrick
If football has the term ‘hattrick’ to describe a player scoring three goals in a single match, Fahd El Fuju A Rafiq now has a much more bitter version. Not three goals against an opponent, but becoming a suspect in corruption cases for the third time.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has stated that the latest case involving Fahd marks his third time as a suspect in a bribery matter. The difference is that a football player scoring a hattrick is usually cheered by spectators; he, instead, must deal with the KPK’s detention vehicle.
Thus, the term ‘corruption hattrick’ sounds like a joke, but its substance is not funny at all. This is not a match resulting in a trophy, but a repetition of offences that raises questions about the effectiveness of deterrents.
His track record resembles an unfinished match. Fahd first became a suspect in 2012 in a Regional Infrastructure Adjustment Fund (DPID) bribery case. He was then a suspect in 2017 regarding the procurement of Al-Qur’an copies.
Now, in 2026, he has been named a suspect again in an alleged bribery and gratification case involving Building Rights (HGB) management in Bogor Regency. From his initial status as a bribery suspect, he is now a suspect in committing similar crimes.
In the DPID case, Fahd was ultimately sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. In the Al-Qur’an procurement case, he received a four-year sentence. Now, having completed both, a third case is ensnaring him with a threat of no smaller punishment.
As the legal proceedings are still ongoing, we must not precede the court by declaring him guilty in the latest case. Suspect status is not a verdict. However, the repetition of suspect status itself is a fact that is difficult to ignore.
What makes the latest case more interesting is the arena of play. Fahd is not playing on an empty field. Following his release from prison for corruption, he is now recorded as the Chairman of the Golkar Party’s DPP for Relations with Mass Organisations.
Following the KPK’s sting operation, the General Chairman of Golkar, Bahlil Lahadalia, described the case affecting his cadre as a ‘misfortune’. He stated that the party respects the legal process. Regarding Fahd’s status within the party, he stated he would await the development of the legal process.
This is where the match metaphor begins to feel strange. In sports, a player who repeatedly commits fouls receives a card. You know that a third yellow card in football means a red card. It means: stop playing, you must leave the field.
In politics, that ‘card’ is known as an ethics mechanism, party discipline, or even dismissal. But whether that card is issued, when it is issued, and to whom it is given, often becomes a matter far more complex than the rules of football.
This case also brings Minister of ATR/BPN Nusron Wahid into the middle of the field. The KPK stated that Fahd, along with Arif Sugiyanto, Erwin, and Muhammad Fakhry, are individuals alleged to be trusted associates of Nusron.
They are four of the eight suspects in the alleged bribery case regarding the management of Summarecon HGB in Bogor Regency. The case itself originated from the process of unblocking HGB. The KPK revealed an alleged demand for a fee of Rp2 billion, coded as ‘two’.
Summarecon allegedly agreed to Rp1.5 billion. In the KPK’s construction of the case, part of that money was then transferred to parties involved in the land administration process.
The sting operation on 14 September 2026 ultimately resulted in eight suspects and evidence of money amounting to approximately Rp106.3 billion in various currencies.
However, there is one thing that needs to be clarified so that criticism does not turn into gossip. I find no credible record that Nusron Wahid has ever been a suspect in a corruption case previously.
Therefore, it is inaccurate to say he has ‘previously been entangled in corruption’. What is recorded is that in 2017, while still a Golkar official, Nusron called for his party to conduct a thorough correction and replace cadres embroiled in corruption cases.
Now, the situation has reversed into a test for him. Four people whom the KPK identified as his trusted associates have become suspects.
That is a fact that warrants serious examination, but it does not automatically prove Nusron’s involvement. The KPK itself stated that the investigation is still in its early stages and Nusron’s connection still needs to be investigated.
The public also should not add unverified embellishments. For instance, stating that Fahd and Nusron are ‘friends’ as a legal fact. What is clear from the KPK’s construction is the term ‘trusted associates’.