Officials Forced to Borrow Money to Meet Regent's 'Bonus' Demands in Cilacap
The KPK has revealed the origins of funds provided by department heads (Kadis) to comply with bonus (THR) demands from Cilacap Regent Syamsul Auliya Rachman (AUL). The KPK stated that department heads were forced to borrow money in order to meet the regent’s demands.
“From information we received from the heads of regional agencies, some of them borrowed money to meet these demands,” said KPK Deputy for Prosecution and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu during a press conference at KPK headquarters in South Jakarta on Saturday, 14 March 2026.
Asep explained that the borrowing undertaken by department heads had serious consequences. This borrowing would ultimately lead to project finance schemes (‘ijon proyek’).
“Borrowing will inevitably result in project finance schemes at their respective agencies. This borrowed money will subsequently be repaid through projects to be carried out in 2026,” Asep clarified.
Asep stated that the regent’s demand for bonuses from department heads was not a trivial matter. When project finance schemes emerge, the public becomes victimised.
Asep noted that project finance schemes would lead each department head to reduce their allocation for public facilities (fasum). As a result, the quality of public facilities received by communities would be suboptimal.
“When projects are financed through these schemes, the quality of the work will decline. Since portions have been diverted for these purposes, who suffers? The public,” Asep said.
“For example, if demands are made to the Public Works and Housing Ministry for roads, bridges and other physical infrastructure, these will be affected. If demands are made to the Health Ministry, healthcare services, medicines and so forth, people will not receive adequate health services. The cascading impact becomes much larger. This isn’t merely about allocating funds for bonuses,” he added.
The Regent Threatens Department Head Rotation
Previously, the KPK also revealed that Cilacap Regent Syamsul Auliya Rachman had threatened department heads who failed to comply with demands for bonus payments. The KPK stated that officials faced threats of reassignment if they were not obedient.
“Several of the 13 heads of agencies expressed their concern. If they failed to meet AUL’s demands, they would be transferred and so forth, seen as disloyal to the regent’s orders,” Asep said.
Asep stated that Regent Syamsul had set targets when making extortionate demands to various agencies and health centres to provide bonuses to the regional leadership forum (Forkopimda). The KPK cited a target of up to Rp750 million.
“Various amounts from each regional agency in Cilacap Regency with ‘contribution targets’ totalling Rp750 million,” Asep explained.
Asep also noted that from the total target, each working unit (satker) was asked to contribute between Rp75 million and Rp100 million. He stated that Cilacap Regency has 25 regional agencies, 2 regional general hospitals, and 20 health centres.
“Initially, each working unit (satker) was targeted to contribute Rp75 million to Rp100 million. Although in practice, the contributions received varied, ranging from Rp3 million to Rp100 million per regional agency,” Asep revealed.
It is known that the KPK has designated Cilacap Regent Syamsul Auliya Rachman (AUL) and Cilacap Regency Secretary Sadmoko Danardono (SAD) as suspects in an alleged extortion case. Both are charged with violating Article 12 letter e and/or Article 12B of Law No. 31 of 1999 on Corruption Eradication as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001 on Corruption Eradication juncto Article 20 letter c of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code.