New Chapter in Sleman Ex-Regent Corruption Case, Son Named as Suspect

The corruption case concerning tourism grant funds in Sleman Regency, with former Sleman Regent Sri Purnomo as the defendant, has entered a new chapter. The Sleman District Prosecutor’s Office has finally named Sri Purnomo’s son, Raudi Akmal, as a suspect. Raudi Akmal, who is a member of the Sleman Regional House of Representatives, was named a suspect on Monday (22/6). Raudi had previously been a witness in the case of alleged corruption involving irregularities in the management of tourism grant funds in Sleman Regency in 2020. Head of the Sleman District Prosecutor’s Office, Bambang Yunianto, stated that the case began when Sleman Regency received a grant of Rp 68 billion from the Ministry of Finance in 2020 for handling the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts. Bambang explained that the investigation’s development uncovered active actions by suspect RA (Raudi Akmal) in managing the 2020 tourism grant funds. ‘Namely by conditioning proposals from community groups as grant recipients, which were subsequently determined through a Sleman Regent Decree,’ said Bambang at the Sleman Prosecutor’s Office on Monday evening (22/6/2026). Bambang continued that these actions were carried out by the suspect together with Sri Purnomo. He stated that the suspect’s actions resulted in state financial losses. Based on an audit calculation of state financial losses by the BPKP Representative Office for Yogyakarta, the state loss amounted to Rp 10.9 billion. ‘The actions of suspect RA were carried out jointly with defendant Sri Purnomo,’ he said. After being named a suspect, Raudi was immediately detained for the next 20 days at the Class IIA Yogyakarta Detention Centre. As he was escorted out of the prosecutor’s office to the detention vehicle, Raudi briefly stated that he was not involved in the case. ‘We all know that the verdict from the Yogyakarta District Court stated there was no involvement on my part. So, I want to face this with justice,’ Raudi said at the time. It was previously reported that former Sleman Regent Sri Purnomo was charged with misappropriating Rp 10 billion in tourism grant funds for the campaign to elect his wife, Kustini Sri Purnomo, as Regent of Sleman for the 2021-2025 term. His son, Raudi Akmal, was also mentioned as actively lobbying volunteers to support his mother in the 2020 Sleman Regional Election. This was revealed in the indictment against Sri Purnomo read by the public prosecutor at the Yogyakarta District Court on Thursday (18/12/2025). The case originated when the central government provided Rp 68.5 billion in grants to local governments affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the tourism sector in 2020. Provisions regarding the tourism grant funds were stipulated in the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Regulation. The regulation stated that 70 percent of the grant funds to local governments was allocated for direct assistance to hotel and restaurant businesses, and 30 percent for local governments to handle the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, particularly in the tourism sector. At the time, Sri Purnomo, as Regent of Sleman and the grant recipient, issued a Sleman Regent Regulation on Guidelines for Providing Tourism Grants. The regulation stipulated the allocation of 70 percent for hotel and restaurant businesses and 30 percent for community groups in the tourism sector. Prosecutors stated that before the regulation was issued, Sri Purnomo had already signalled to his wife Kustini and Danang Maharsa’s campaign coalition team about the existence of these tourism grant funds. The information was then followed up by a witness who gathered the leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) branch. The witness reportedly informed them that the tourism grant funds could be used for the campaign of candidate pair number 3, Kustini Sri Purnomo and Danang Maharsa. Sri Purnomo also instructed officials from the National Mandate Party (PAN) to use the grant programme to garner votes for the Kustini-Danang pair. Subsequently, these PAN politicians designated five tourism villages in the Minggir, Moyudan, and Seyegan areas as recipients of the tourism grant programme, with the reciprocal condition of supporting the candidate pair. Under Sri Purnomo’s orders, the programme was also socialised in the Gamping, Mlati, Godean, Seyegan, Moyudan, and Minggir areas, which constitute Electoral District V. The indictment also detailed the role of Sri Purnomo and Kustini’s son, Raudi Akmal. As a member of the campaign team for Kustini-Danang in the 2020 Sleman Regional Election, Raudi was described as actively lobbying various parties, including instructing volunteer teams to submit tourism grant proposals in exchange for electoral support. Around October 2020, Raudi allegedly asked the Head of Human Resources and Tourism Business Development at the Sleman Tourism Office to come to the official residence of the Sleman Regent. During the meeting, Raudi conveyed a message that the grant programme should not be announced to tourism villages.