Charges filed against Rejang Lebong Regent in project fee bribery case
JAKARTA — The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has designated Rejang Lebong Regent Muhammad Fikri Thobari as a suspect in an alleged bribery case involving project fee skimming (ijon) within Rejang Lebong District Government for the 2025-2026 fiscal period on Tuesday, 10 March 2026.
In addition to the regent, the KPK has named four others as suspects: Head of the Public Works, Spatial Planning, Housing and Settlement Department (PUPRPKP) Hary Eko Purnomo, Irsyad Satria Budiman from PT Statika Mitra Sarana, Edi Manggala from CV Manggala Utama, and Youki Yudiantoro from CV Alpagker Abadi.
KPK Deputy for Prosecution and Enforcement Asep Guntur Rahayu stated that the case originated in early 2026, when a number of physical infrastructure projects under the PUPRPKP department in Rejang Lebong District Government were undertaken, with total budgets for the department reaching 91.13 billion rupiah.
“In meetings held, there was allegedly discussion regarding contractor arrangement and allocation for projects under the PUPRPKP department in the 2026 fiscal year, including discussion concerning fee amounts (ijon) of approximately 10-15 percent of the project value,” Asep said at a press conference at the Red and White Building in Jakarta on Wednesday, 11 March 2026.
According to Asep, following the contractor allocation arrangement, Regent Fikri wrote certain letter codes on a Physical Work Summary sheet representing “contractor initials” that would undertake project packages under the PUPRPKP department in Rejang Lebong for the 2026 fiscal year.
He stated that the fee request was made to meet Fikri’s personal Eid expenses.
Asep said that during the process, there was a meeting of minds (mens rea) or agreement between Regent Fikri and PUPRPKP Head Hary Eko with the contractors regarding project execution at the PUPRPKP department in Rejang Lebong District Government.
The three contractors involved were Irsyad Satria Budiman as representative of private company PT Statika Mitra Sarana; Edi Manggala (CV Manggala Utama); and Youki Yudiantoro (CV Alpagker Abadi).
According to Asep, following this direct contractor designation, there was allegedly an initial transfer of fees (ijon) in cash from the three contractors to Regent Fikri through intermediaries, totalling 980 million rupiah.
The breakdown is as follows: On 26 February 2026, Edi Manggala from CV Manggala Utama transferred 330 million rupiah (3.4 percent of the project value for pedestrian and drainage construction and sports centre worth a total of 9.8 billion rupiah) through PUPRPKP Head Hary Eko.
On 6 March 2026, Youki Yudiantoro from CV Alpagker Abadi transferred 250 million rupiah (2.3 percent of the project value for the restoration of buildings and surroundings of a football stadium worth 11 billion rupiah) through Rendy Novian, a civil servant at the PUPRPKP department.
During the arrest operation, the KPK team discovered a process in which the alleged “ijon money” wrapped in plastic within a black bag was being transferred by PUPRPKP Head Hary Eko to Fikri.