KPK Designates Cilacap Regent and Regional Secretary as Suspects in Extortion Over Year-End Allowances
Jakarta — Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) has designated Cilacap Regent Syamsul Auliya Rachman (AUL) and Regional Secretary (Sekda) of Cilacap Regency Sadmoko Danardono (SAD) as suspects in an alleged corruption case involving extortion for year-end allowances (THR).
KPK’s Deputy for Prosecution and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu announced at a press conference in Jakarta on Saturday evening that both officials were designated as suspects following the discovery of sufficient evidence after their arrest on Friday evening, 13 March.
“The KPK has escalated this case to the investigation phase and designated two suspects: AUL in his capacity as Cilacap Regent for the 2025-2030 term and SAD as Regional Secretary of Cilacap Regency,” Asep stated.
The Regent and Regional Secretary have been detained for an initial 20-day period, from 14 March through 2 April 2026, held at the KPK’s Red and White Building State Detention Centre (Rutan) in Jakarta.
The suspects are charged with violating Article 12(e) and/or Article 12B of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Offences, in conjunction with Article 20(c) of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code.
Asep explained that the operation against AUL and SAD originated from public complaints. He stated that AUL ordered SAD to collect funds to provide personal year-end allowances and allowances for external parties.
“The external parties referred to here include Forkopimda, the forum for communication among regional leaders within the Cilacap Regency Administration,” he said.
Subsequently, SAD, together with three district assistants, discussed the funding requirements for external year-end allowances, which totalled 515 million rupiah. To meet these needs, the district assistants requested contributions from each regional agency.
“The estimated total contributions at that time amounted to around 750 million rupiah,” Asep stated.
Initially, each work unit was targeted to contribute between 75 million and 100 million rupiah. However, in reality, contributions received varied, ranging from 3 million to 100 million rupiah per regional agency.
Between 9 and 13 March 2025, 23 regional agencies in Cilacap Regency submitted contributions totalling 610 million rupiah in response to Regent AUL’s request.
The KPK stressed that such conduct is unlawful. The provision of year-end allowances by a regional head through regional agencies demonstrates unethical governance behaviour with no legitimate justification or excuse.
“On the other hand, this can create a domino effect of further irregularities and violations in securing the requested funds, such as demanding payments from private companies promised infrastructure projects in the region, which will ultimately damage regional state finances and compromise the quality of infrastructure development in Cilacap Regency,” Asep added.