Former Transport Ministry Official Allegedly Demanded 5 Per Cent Fee from KAI Subsidiary

An official of the Ministry of Transport (Kemenhub) is alleged to have demanded a five per cent commitment fee from a company awarded a level-crossing works project across Java and Sumatra in the 2022 fiscal year under the ministry’s Railway Infrastructure Directorate.

The five per cent tariff on the procurement contract value was conveyed by Harno Trimadi as Director of Infrastructure at the Directorate General of Railways, who also served as the Budget User Authority (KPA).

This emerged in the indictment read out by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors against PT KA Properti Manajemen (KAPM) at a hearing at the Corruption Crime Court at Central Jakarta District Court on Monday (7 September).

At the hearing, the defendant, a company operating in property and construction, was represented by Mohamad Ramdany as its corporate officer.

The case plaguing the red-plate railway subsidiary follows on from the corrupt acts of Yoseph Ibrahim, who served as President Director in 2022 (that case has reached final legal force).

In the construction of the case set out by prosecutors, the demand for a five per cent fee was conveyed by Harno at a meeting at the Office of the Railway Infrastructure Directorate at DJKA in Gambir, Central Jakarta, in December 2021. Yoseph and his staff attended the meeting.

The meeting was held to discuss the realisation of payment for flood-handling work at Lemah Abang as well as plans to designate the defendant as a railway infrastructure business entity.

However, Harno stated that the payment could not yet be realised.

At that meeting, Harno Trimadi informed those present that in 2022 there would be a level-crossing repair project for the Java and Sumatra region, and that the works would be given to the defendant.

For the technical implementation and arrangement of the tender, Harno directed the defendant’s representatives to coordinate with Fadliansyah, the Commitment-Making Officer (PPK) for the project in question.

“Harno Trimadi conveyed that there was a commitment fee that had to be fulfilled by the defendant amounting to 5 per cent of the contract value so that the defendant would be awarded the Java-Sumatra level-crossing works package for the 2022 fiscal year,” said KPK prosecutor Greafik Loserte, reading the indictment at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday (7 September).

In short, the tender was rigged. The defendant submitted a bid value of Rp20,752,776,802.12.

Between May 2022 and December 2022, the defendant, through Parjono, realised and handed over money amounting to Rp1,000,000,000 (Rp1 billion) to Harno and Fadliansyah.

“In addition to the commitment fee payment, the defendant, through Parjono and with the approval of Yoseph Ibrahim, also handed over money amounting to Rp125,000,000 (Rp125 million) in total for the needs of Harno and Fadliansyah.

Based on the calculations of Aria Farah Mita, an expert in corporate financial accounting, the corporate profit of the subsidiary of PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) was valued at Rp2,410,092,416 (Rp2.4 billion).

For these acts, the defendant is charged with violating Article 5 paragraph 1 letter a or Article 5 paragraph 1 letter b or Article 13 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes, and Article 20 letter c of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 126 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.