KPK Opens Opportunity to Question Budi Karya Sumadi after Seizure of Hundreds of Millions of Rupiah from Former Senior Adviser

Serang, Banten — The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is open to questioning former Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi after it seized hundreds of millions of rupiah from his former senior adviser, Robby Kurniawan. ‘Yes, the possibility of questioning is certainly there,’ KPK chairman Setyo Budiyanto said in Serang, Banten, on Thursday.

However, he could not say much yet as he awaits further reports from the KPK’s Deputy for Action and Enforcement regarding developments in the investigation into alleged bribery in the construction and maintenance of railway lines under the Directorate General of Railways (DJKA) of the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub).

Budi Karya Sumadi last appeared before KPK as a witness in the DJKA case on 9 March 2026.

The case originated from a 2023 anti-graft operation at the Balai Teknik Perkeretaapian (BTP) Class I, Central Java Region, under DJKA Kemenhub. The BTP Class I Central Java Region has since been renamed BTP Class I Semarang. KPK subsequently named 10 suspects who were immediately detained in connection with alleged corruption in the construction and maintenance of railway lines in Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi.

As of 20 January 2026, KPK had named and detained 21 suspects, including Sudewo. Two corporations had also been named as suspects in the matter. The alleged crimes occurred in projects including the Solo Balapan–Kadipiro–Kalioso double-track railway line, a railway line project in Makassar, South Sulawesi, four railway construction projects and two supervision projects in Lampegan, Cianjur, West Java, and a level-crossing improvement project between Java and Sumatra.

In the construction and maintenance projects, there are suspected arrangements to determine project winners through administrative manipulations and tender winner determinations.

On 19 May 2026, KPK announced it had seized hundreds of millions of rupiah from Robby Kurniawan, a former staff adviser to the Minister of Transportation in the Budi Karya Sumadi era, and from Dudy Purwagandhi.