KPK Summons Forestry Minister's Special Staff Over Envelope Linked to Kuansing Regent
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has summoned Andi Saiful Haq, a special staff member to Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni, for questioning. The summons relates to the return of an envelope belonging to the minister that allegedly came from Kuantan Singingi (Kuansing) Regent Suhardiman Amby.
The examination was scheduled to take place at the KPK’s Merah Putih Building for ASH, a special staff member at the Ministry of Forestry, KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo told reporters on Friday (21/8/2026).
Budi said that as of the afternoon, Andi, who is also deputy secretary-general of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), had not yet appeared at the KPK building. Andi’s side had also not provided confirmation of attendance.
As of now the witness has not appeared, and investigators have not received confirmation; we are still waiting, Budi said.
The envelope containing Singapore dollars originated from a KPK finding that Regent Suhardiman allegedly requested money from deductions to farmers’ business surplus (Sisa Hasil Usaha or SHU) to cover the cost of processing the release of Limited Production Forest areas. The money was then converted into Singapore dollars and given to the forestry minister when he received an audience with Regent Suhardiman on 2 June 2026.
The minister acknowledged the envelope. According to him, the envelope was left in his office in a closed folder.
I did not know what was inside, but I felt I had no right to the envelope and I asked my aide to return it, Forestry Minister Raja Juli said some time ago.
The return process was said by the minister to have been carried out with the help of the Kuansing Resort Police on 12 June 2026, or 17 days before Regent Suhardiman was caught in a KPK sting operation. Later, on 3 July 2026, the minister reported the return of the envelope to the KPK as a form of compliance with gratification reporting, but the KPK rejected the report because it was deemed to have already entered the investigation stage.
The envelope was found when KPK investigators conducted a search of Kuansing Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) Speaker Juprizal. The KPK has not provided a detailed explanation of how the envelope ended up with Juprizal.
However, the contents of the envelope were not SGD 14,000 as stated by the farmers, but only SGD 12,000. The KPK is still tracing the remaining SGD 2,000 believed to have been in the envelope.
There are still many things that investigators need to examine further, including who placed the envelope and what the meetings were like. We will wait for developments because the process is still ongoing. The team is also still in the field to confirm both the meetings and the amounts in the envelope, said KPK Acting Director of Investigation Achmad Taufik Husein.
Regent Suhardiman himself has been named a bribery suspect. Suhardiman allegedly received a bribe in the form of a Toyota Land Cruiser worth Rp 2 billion for selecting Zulkarnain as regional secretary.
The KPK also revealed that Suhardiman had previously received a Mitsubishi Pajero Sport from Zulkarnain when he was still serving as acting regent. Suhardiman became acting regent of Kuansing after Andi Putra, who held the position of regent, was caught in a sting operation in 2021.
A total of three people have been named as suspects: Suhardiman Amby as Kuansing Regent, Zulkarnain as Kuansing Regional Secretary, and Ardiles as president director of PT MIC.
The KPK said there were allegations of other receipts by Suhardiman. The KPK suspects Suhardiman received money from a number of Village Unit Cooperatives (KUD) whose members are farmers to process forest conversion. The conversion permit itself rests with the Ministry of Forestry, while the regional government has authority over technical recommendations.