Grilled by Judge over IDR 10 Billion Grant Recipients, Sri Purnomo: The Details are with the Department

The follow-up trial of the alleged corruption case of the 2020 Sleman Regency Tourism Grant Fund was held at the Yogyakarta District Court (PN). In the trial, the defendant, Sri Purnomo, stated that he did not know the list of recipients of the grant fund.

The trial was held at the Yogyakarta District Court from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. The trial was led by the Chief Justice, Melinda Aritonang.

In the trial, Judge Melinda grilled Sri Purnomo about the chronology of receiving the letter to signing the Regional Grant Agreement (NPHD). The judge initially asked when the former Regent of Sleman first learned about the grant fund.

“When did you find out?” asked the judge.

Sri Purnomo replied that he knew the letter was already on his desk. He said the letter arrived before the Regional Election (Pilkada).

“I don’t know, because the letter had arrived, then it was brought from the Regional Secretariat, and it ended up on our desk. That’s all,” said the former Regent of Sleman.

The judge then asked about the list of grant recipients. Sri Purnomo replied that he only saw the total amount of the grant.

“Isn’t there a list? Usually, it’s already determined who will receive it. Did you not read it?” asked the judge.

“What I signed was only the total amount. The technical verification is with the department,” replied Sri Purnomo.

The judge reiterated that, as the regional head at the time, Sri Purnomo should have known the details of the policy he signed.

“Do you just trust them?” asked the judge.

“I only read the outline, because the technical aspects have been reviewed by the legal department and the relevant department. I believe it is in accordance with the procedure,” replied Sri Purnomo.

About the Misappropriation of the Sleman Grant Fund

Previously, it was reported that the misappropriation of the 2020 Sleman Regency tourism grant fund resulted in state losses of IDR 10,952,457,030.

Sri Purnomo was charged with violating Article 2 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption, as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

The case began when the government provided grants to regional governments affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the tourism sector, totaling IDR 68,518,100,000 in 2020. The provisions regarding the tourism grant fund are outlined in the Regulation of the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Number KM/704/PL.07.02/M-K/2020 dated October 9, 2020.

“In letter G, number 1, point c, it states that ‘The grant funds provided to regional governments are divided with an allocation of 70% for direct assistance to the hotel and restaurant industry and 30% for regional governments to be used for handling the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the tourism sector,’” said the public prosecutor (JPU) on Thursday, December 18, 2025.

Sri Purnomo, who at that time was the Regent of Sleman and also the recipient of the grant, was said to have issued Sleman Regent Regulation Number 49 of 2020 concerning Guidelines for Providing Tourism Grants on November 27, 2020. The Regent Regulation regulates the allocation of 70 percent of the grant for hotel and restaurant businesses, and 30 percent for community groups in the tourism sector.

The prosecutor said that before the Regent Regulation was issued, Sri Purnomo had given instructions to the coalition team to win his wife, Sri Kustini, and Danang Maharsa, regarding the existence of the tourism grant fund. One of them was the Chairman of the PDIP Sleman at that time, who was also the coalition team for the 2020 Sleman Regional Election, Kuswanto.

“(Kuswanto) is the Coalition Team for the Sleman Regency Head Election in 2020, with the statement, ‘There is a fund from the central Ministry of Tourism that is idle, it can be used to win,’” said the prosecutor.

This information was then followed up by the witness by gathering the DPC PDIP administrators. Kuswanto was said to have informed that the use of the tourism grant fund was for winning the Sleman Regent-Vice Regent candidate number 3, Kustini Sri Purnomo and Danang Maharsa.

Sri Purnomo was also said to have ordered the Secretary of PAN Sleman, Arif Kurniawan, and the Deputy Chairman of PAN Sleman, Dodik Ariyanto, to use the tourism grant program to gather votes for the Kustini and Danang pair. Furthermore, this PAN politician appointed five Tourism Villages in Minggir, Moyudan, and Seyegan as recipients of the 2020 Sleman Tourism Grant Fund program in exchange for voting for Kustini and Danang. Not only that, with the order from Sri Purnomo, Dodik also socialized about the grant in the areas of Gamping, Mlati, Godean, Seyegan, Moyudan and Minggir, which are areas of the electoral district (Dapil) V.

“By conveying that there will be tourism grant assistance from the center for the community who will submit proposals, then the proposals will be collected and asked to help succeed the Candidate Number 3 in the Sleman Regency Head Election in 2020,” said the JPU.

Son Mentioned in Indictment

Sri Purnomo and Kustini’s son, Raudi Akmal, was also mentioned in the indictment. Raudi is known to be a member of the successful team for winning Kustini-Danang in the 2020 Sleman Regional Election. He was said to be actively lobbying several parties, including ordering the volunteer team to submit tourism grant proposals in exchange for providing support for Kustini-Danang.

Around October 2020, Raudi was said to have asked the Head of Human Resources Development and Tourism Business of the Sleman Tourism Office, Nyoman Rai Savitri, to come to the Sleman Regent’s official residence. In the meeting, Raudi conveyed a message that the program of the grant fund should not be announced to the tourism villages.

“Then the witness Raudi said to the witness Nyoman Rai Savitri, ‘Father (Sri Purnomo) asked that it not be socialized to the Tourism Villages, if you don’t believe it, we can meet Father now,’” said the JPU while reading the indictment in court.

In the meeting, it was said that the socialization of the tourism grant fund would be carried out by the successful team of the Kustini-Danang pair. Then in November 2020, 167 proposals were collected.