Case of Pekalongan Regent Fadia Arafiq: Local Agencies Allegedly Ordered to Favor the 'Mother Company'

Jakarta, KOMPAS.com - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named Pekalongan Regent Fadia Arafiq as a suspect in a case of alleged corruption over the procurement of outsourcing services and other goods and services in the Pekalongan Regency Government for 2023-2026. KPK Deputy for Enforcement and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu said the status of suspect was determined based on the sufficiency of evidence. Fadia Arafiq was initially seized in a sting operation in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday 3 March 2026. ‘KPK has escalated this case to the stage of investigation by naming one person as a suspect, FAR (Fadia Arafiq) as Pekalongan Regent for the 2025-2030 period,’ Asep told a press conference at the Merah Putih Building in Jakarta on Wednesday 4 March 2026. ‘Detention will be conducted at the State Detention Centre (Rutan) at the Gedung Merah Putih KPK,’ he added. Asep said the case began when Fadia Arafiq, who had been in office for only one year as Pekalongan Regent for the 2021-2025 period, established a company with her husband, who is also a member of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), Mukhtaruddin Ashraff Abu, and their son, who is also a Pekalongan Regional Council member, Muhammad Sabiq Ashraff, named PT RNB (Raja Nusantara Berjaya). PT RNB is a company involved in providing services and has been active as a vendor in the Pekalongan Regency government’s procurement of goods and services (PBJ). Asep said Mukhtaruddin Ashraff Abu serves as commissioner of PT RNB and Muhammad Sabiq Ashraff as director. In 2024, Fadia changed the Directorship of PT RNB to a trusted associate named Rul Bayatun. ‘After one year of operation, throughout 2023-2026, PT RNB is understood to have secured outsourcing service procurement projects in a number of regional devices of the Pekalongan Regency government,’ he stated. Asep said that in that period, Fadia Arafiq, through her son Muhammad Sabiq Ashraff and her confidant, allegedly intervened with the heads of departments to secure PT RNB’s winning of outsourcing service contracts in several departments, districts, and the Regional General Hospital (RSUD) in Pekalongan Regency. ‘Even though other companies submitted lower bids, the regional devices were compelled to award to the ’Mother Company’, which could also lead to state financial losses,’ he said. ‘This breach of procedure in the procurement process,’ he added. Asep also revealed that throughout 2025, PT RNB dominated the government procurement in Pekalongan Regency by handling outsourcing services across 17 regional devices, 3 RSUDs, and 1 district.