Fact Check: Did Purbaya Become Customs and Excise Director General?
Fact Check: Did Purbaya Become Customs and Excise Director General?
Reporter
September 28, 2026 | 10:28 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Several posts on Facebook [archived] and TikTok, from September 18, 2026, claimed that Indonesia’s former Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa had been appointed Director General of Customs and Excise. The video shows Purbaya, wearing a Customs and Excise uniform, leading a ceremony with the narration: “From managing the entire state budget, he now becomes the commander at the main gateway of state revenue: Customs and Excise.”
This content circulated after Purbaya was removed from his position as Finance Minister on September 14, 2026. Was Purbaya actually appointed Director General of Customs and Excise after being removed as Finance Minister?
FACT CHECK
Tempo verified the content using reverse image searches and searches of official documents. The results show that Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa was never appointed Director General of Customs and Excise.
Video Verification
The circulating video is footage from the time Purbaya was still serving as Finance Minister. The video was uploaded to his personal TikTok account on October 13, 2025.
At that time, he presided over the Special Assembly for the 79th Customs Day at the DJBC (Directorate General of Customs and Excise) Headquarters in Jakarta. In his address, Purbaya urged Customs personnel to reinforce their commitment to safeguarding fiscal interests and strengthening the national economy.
Currently, the position of Director General of Customs and Excise is held by Retired Army Lieutenant General Djaka Budi Utama. Djaka is a 1990 Military Academy graduate who served in the Kopassus Infantry and was a member of the “Rose Team” (Tim Mawar). The book Menerobos Jalan Buntu: Kajian Terhadap Sistem Peradilan Militer di Indonesia (Breaking the Deadlock: A Study of the Military Justice System in Indonesia), published by KontraS, notes that the Rose Team was proven to have abducted activists in 1998 and was tried at the High Military Court II in April 1999.
Recently, Djaka was also mentioned during the trial of a case involving alleged bribery and gratuities within the DJBC, which is being heard at the Central Jakarta District Court. His name was cited by a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutor during a hearing on May 6, 2026, and by a businessman witness on August 26, 2026.
The value of the bribes and gratuities in the case reached Rp78.81 billion, linked to cargo handling at the port. Djaka and several other Customs officials allegedly held informal meetings with private sector businesspeople and received a flow of funds.
Responding to this, Djaka declined to comment extensively. “Regarding the import issues at Customs, let us simply follow the developments of the trial,” said Djaka at the Ministry of Finance office in Central Jakarta on Friday, June 5, 2026.
CONCLUSION
Tempo’s verification concludes that the narrative claiming Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa served as Director General of Customs and Excise after stepping down as Minister of Finance is a false claim.
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