Irony of Companies Routinely Preparing "Devil's Money" to Handle K3 Certification, Additional Costs That Seem Mandatory

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The term “devil’s money” and various non-technical levies emerged in the trial of alleged extortion and gratification related to the processing of Occupational Safety and Health (K3) certificates at the Ministry of Manpower (Kemenaker) for the period 2021–2025.

Several witnesses from companies disclosed payments beyond official fees, starting from hundreds of thousands of rupiah per certificate, millions of rupiah for K3 personnel licences and evaluations, up to hundreds of millions of rupiah through intermediaries.

These facts were revealed in the trial of the case involving former Deputy Minister of Manpower Immanuel Ebenezer, alias Noel, along with several other defendants at the Corruption Court (Tipikor), on Monday (6/4/2026).

Ironically, companies routinely prepare this bribe money as if it were part of the official tariff, making it inseparable. Although they know the money is only to smooth the processing of their certificates.

In the trial, one of the findings that emerged was the use of unusual terms in the company’s internal financial records.

One witness, Director of PT Upaya Karya Sejahtera Vera Lutfia, explained that the term “devil’s money” was listed in the company’s internal notes regarding expenditures in the K3 certification processing.

“That was written by the finance department. Then there is the writing ‘devil’s money’, that is the writing of the president director,” said Vera when answering questions from the Public Prosecutor (JPU).

The prosecutor then confirmed the meaning of the term and ensured the writing was there.

“It can (be read), it is written ‘devil’s money’. Actually, we objected (to storing the money),” Vera revealed.

Director of PT Barito Sarana Karya (BSK) Rony Sugiarto admitted to routinely depositing money for obtaining the Operator’s Permit Letter (SIO). He said the practice has been ongoing for several years.

“To my knowledge, the money is for the SIO application,” said Rony in the trial.

Rony explained that non-technical payments were made when collecting documents that had been processed.

He mentioned that the amount of the fee had changed after negotiations.

“The last one was Rp 250,000 per SIO. As I recall, it used to be Rp 500,000. After we objected because it was too expensive, it was finally negotiated down to Rp 250,000,” he explained.