KPK Summons Car Dealer Executive in Foreigner Residence Permit Case
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has scheduled an examination of an executive from the Jaecoo car dealership, a Chinese automotive company. The examination is related to a case of extortion involving foreign nationals’ residence permits at the Directorate General of Immigration, which has implicated former Deputy Minister of Immigration and Corrections, Silmy Karim.
“The KPK has scheduled the examination of witnesses in the alleged corruption case related to the processing of residence permits for foreign nationals at the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections,” said KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo in a statement on Wednesday (15/7/2026). Budi stated that two other witnesses were to be examined alongside the Jaecoo dealer executive. The examination is being conducted at the KPK’s Merah Putih building.
The three witnesses summoned by the KPK are: 1. Dionisius Anggo Man, a contract employee at the Directorate General of Immigration; 2. Kusyairi, from the private sector (PT Putra Bunda Mandiri); 3. The executive of the Jaecoo Cibubur dealership or a representative.
Previously, the KPK revealed the existence of payments from several immigration offices to the Directorate General of Immigration in the case of extortion related to limited stay permits for foreign nationals. The KPK stated it is currently investigating the payment model used by a number of immigration offices to transfer funds to the Directorate General of Immigration.
Acting Director of Investigations at the KPK, Achmad Taufik Husein, explained that the money paid by several immigration offices to the Directorate General of Immigration was ‘excess money’ obtained from service bureaus during the processing of limited stay permits for foreign nationals. Taufik said this excess money was an additional fee beyond the official cost that service bureaus had to pay for the foreign nationals’ stay permits to be issued.
“We are also investigating other immigration offices (besides those in the West Jakarta area). We are looking into what the model is like,” Taufik revealed during a press conference at the KPK’s Merah Putih building in South Jakarta on Wednesday (1/7). Taufik explained the reason these payments were made by several immigration offices to the Directorate General of Immigration. He stated that the authority to issue limited stay permits for foreign nationals lies with the Directorate General of Immigration.
“The authorisation to click ‘acc’ regarding the stay permit is indeed the authority of the central office,” Taufik explained. He also clarified that the actions of immigration offices imposing ‘excess money’ on several service bureaus constituted extortion. This is because the ‘excess money’ influenced the process of issuing the foreign nationals’ limited stay permits.
“Regarding whether the service bureaus were truly extorted, the facts found so far indicate that the bureaus only processed applications according to the procedures set by immigration, but then there were additional levies which the bureaus felt were outside the official fees, which then falls into the category of extortion,” he said.
The case is believed to have occurred since Silmy served as Director General of Immigration in 2023. The KPK suspects that the total amount of money collected in this case reached IDR 145.5 billion. The KPK also suspects that Silmy received a share of IDR 100 million per week.
The list of eight suspects in this case includes: 1. Silmy Karim, former Deputy Minister of Immigration and Corrections; 2. Saffar Muhammad Godam, Acting Director General of Immigration; 3. Jaya Saputra, Director of Stay Permits and Immigration Status; 4. Tessar Bayu Setyaji, Head of the Sub-Directorate of Transfer of Stay Permit Status; 5. Bagus Bramantyo, Head of a Sub-Directorate at the Directorate of Stay Permits; 6. Ronald Arman Abdullah, Head of the Central Jakarta Immigration Office; 7. Juniadi Sri Priambudi, Head of the Transfer of Stay Permit Status Team; 8. Gusti Benar, Staff member of the Stay Permit Sub-Directorate.