Corruption Watchdog Probes Allegations of Funds for Regional Coordination Forum in Cilacap Holiday Allowance Extortion Case
JAKARTA — The Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) is investigating allegations of money collection by Cilacap Regent Syamsul Auliya Rachman, which reportedly was to be distributed to the Forum Koordinasi Pimpinan Daerah (Forkopimda) — the Regional Coordination Forum.
“Regarding the alleged collection of funds by the Cilacap Regent which was intended to be given to the Forkopimda in Cilacap Regency, we will certainly investigate the motives, objectives, and purpose of this planned distribution,” said KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo at the Red and White Building of the KPK on Tuesday (17 March 2026).
State civil apparatus (ASN), the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), and the Indonesian National Police (Polri) have all already received holiday allowances from the government and therefore do not require additional distributions from regional heads.
“We observe that the holiday allowance mechanism could be used not merely to build goodwill and establish synergies, but these purposes should not require using holiday allowances,” Budi stated.
“Since all civil servants, TNI, and Polri have already received holiday allowances from the government, there is no need for a regional head to prepare special holiday allowances,” he added.
“Particularly when the amounts are substantial for distribution to each Forkopimda member. We will investigate the purpose to ensure this holiday allowance mechanism is not being used to conceal any issues within the regional government or to prevent conflicts of interest from being exposed by local law enforcement officials,” said Budi.
Currently, the KPK remains focused on investigating the structure of the case regarding the alleged receipt of funds by the Cilacap Regent and several other parties in the Cilacap Regency Government.
“We will first investigate the core construction of the case related to the alleged receipt of funds by the Regent and other parties in the Cilacap Regency administration, including the sources of these funds,” Budi explained.
The KPK stated that Syamsul Auliya Rachman intended to distribute holiday allowances to Forkopimda members with varying amounts ranging from 20 to 100 million rupiah, packaged within goodie bags.
The KPK formally named Syamsul Auliya Rachman as a suspect in the alleged extortion case involving Idul Fitri holiday allowances in 2026 on Saturday (14 March 2026).
In addition to the Regent, the KPK also named Cilacap Regional Secretary (Sekda) Sadmoko Danardono as a suspect in the case. Both were apprehended during a dawn raid operation (OTT) on Friday (13 March 2026).
“The KPK escalated the case to the investigation stage and named two suspects: AUL as Cilacap Regent for the 2025-2030 term and SAD as Cilacap Regency Regional Secretary,” said KPK Deputy for Enforcement and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu during a press conference at the Red and White Building of the KPK on Saturday.
The suspects are charged with violations of Article 12 letter e and/or Article 12B of Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001, as well as Article 20 letter c of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code.