KPK States Alleged Gratification Practices for Lecturers Should Not Exist
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) maintains that there should be no practice of alleged gratification from students to lecturers in higher education institutions.
“The existence of alleged routine money transfers by students—in this specific context, involving an individual who is a suspect in an immigration case, providing sums of money during every academic guidance session—means these are alleged gratification practices received by lecturers outside of regulations. Such practices should not exist,” said KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo in a statement confirmed in Jakarta on Friday.
Budi made the statement after revealing allegations of money being provided by suspects in an extortion case involving the processing of residence permits for foreign nationals (WNA). The suspects, Silmy Karim and Bagus Bramantyo, allegedly provided funds to Romy Hermawan, a lecturer in the Public Administration Study Programme at Brawijaya University.
“The provision of money by SK (Silmy) and BGS (Bagus) to an official lecturer at Brawijaya University was allegedly done routinely during every guidance session. The amounts varied, with some reaching around Rp3 million,” he said.
Meanwhile, he stated that the KPK will reveal all details regarding the case during the trial.
“Once it reaches the trial, everything will be revealed, whether it ends at this point or if there are other parties playing a crucial role,” he added.
The case began when the KPK conducted a sting operation (OTT) related to alleged corruption in the processing of residence permits for foreign nationals.
During the series of operations, Silmy Karim, who at the time served as the Deputy Minister of Immigration and Correctional Services, surrendered himself to the KPK.
On 4 June 2026, the KPK named eight individuals as suspects in the alleged extortion case regarding the processing of residence permits for foreign nationals for the 2022-2026 period within the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, which subsequently became the Ministry of Immigration and Correctional Services.
In addition to Silmy Karim, who served as the Director General of Immigration for the 2023–2024 period, the KPK named the Acting Director General of Immigration for the 2024-2025 period, Saffar Muhammad Godam, as a suspect.
The six other suspects include the Head of the West Java Regional Office of the Directorate General of Immigration, Jaya Saputra; the Head of the Class I Special Non-TPI Immigration Office of West Jakarta, Ronald Arman Abdullah; the Head of the Sub-directorate of Residence Permits and Immigration Status, Tessar Bayu Setyaji and Bagus Bramantyo; the Head of the Limited Residence Permit Status Transfer Team, Juniadi Sri Priambudi; and staff of the Residence Permit Sub-directorate, Gusti Benardiansyah.
The KPK suspects that the suspects obtained a total of approximately Rp145.5 billion through these extortion practices during the 2022-2026 period.