Noel and the Rp 3 Billion from the Kemnaker Sultan to Handle the Extortion Case for K3 Matters

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Deputy Minister of Manpower (Wamenaker) Immanuel Ebenezer alias Noel has admitted his mistake in receiving Rp 3 billion from Irvian Bobby Mahendro, Coordinator for Institutional and Personnel Affairs in K3 at the Ministry of Manpower. “So, once again, Your Honour, I admit my mistake. Because I had no motivation related to extortion, asking for a share, money, and so on,” Noel stated during the trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday (21/4/2026). He claimed he was unaware of many ministry officials engaging in extortion against private parties. Noel explained that he received the money shortly after agreeing to Bobby’s request for help in handling a matter involving law enforcement officials (APH). “Because, to be honest, you came to me just asking for help regarding your case that had issues with the APH,” Noel said. “And at that time, because I had good communication with several institutions as we were in the cabinet, I was able to communicate that,” Noel added. Neither Noel nor Bobby specified exactly when the money was given. However, the payment occurred while prosecutors were investigating allegations of extortion related to K3 permits by Bobby and his associates. Noel stated that the Rp 3 billion was halal income because it was not related to extortion or informal collections. “Then, because I received a fee for that, in my view, that is defined as halal money actually,” he said. Noel emphasised that he was unaware of any extortion practices or non-technical money collections as alleged by the Public Prosecutors (JPU) from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in the suspected corruption case involving the extortion of K3 certificate processing. Furthermore, on another occasion, he considered the money halal because it was not related to the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN). “Well, there’s no connection to the APBN, because we follow the President’s orders not to steal from the APBN,” Noel said during a break in the trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Thursday (23/4/2026).