Police Detain 14 Suspects in SNBT-UTBK Exam Proxy Syndicate Case
Surabaya (ANTARA) - Surabaya City Police (Polrestabes) have detained 14 suspects in a syndicate involved in proxy-taking for the National Selection Based on Computer-Based Written Test (SNBT-UTBK), believed to have operated from 2017 until 2026 and spanning multiple regions.
“Three of the 14 suspects are active doctors,” said Surabaya Polrestabes Chief, Senior Commissioner Luthfie Sulistiawan, during a press conference in Surabaya on Thursday.
The suspects are initialled N.R.S (21), I.K.P (41), P.I.F (21), F.P (35), B.P.H (29), D.P (46), M.I (31), R.Z (46), H.R.E (18), B.H (55), S.P (43), S.A (40), I.T.R (38), and C.D.R (35).
The three doctors are initialled B.P.H (29), D.P (46), and M.I (31). All three practise outside Surabaya. “They are from Sumenep, Sidoarjo, and Pacitan,” he said.
He explained that the case was uncovered following suspicions from invigilators during the UTBK-SNBT on 21 April 2026 at State University of Surabaya (Unesa), Jalan Lidah Wetan.
He detailed that invigilators grew suspicious of a participant initialled H.E.R after noticing similarities with photos from the previous year’s exam data.
Subsequently, further checks on the participant’s ID card, KTP, and high school diploma revealed discrepancies in the photos on the administrative documents.
“Confirmation with the school showed the identity was correct, but the photo used did not belong to the data owner,” he stated.
According to him, the suspect acting as proxy for the participant initialled H.E.R remained calm while answering questions despite growing suspicion and even completed the exam faster than other participants, achieving a high score of around 700 points.
Luthfie stated that the 14 detained suspects consist of five order receivers, two order givers, two proxies, and five fake KTP makers.
“Since 2017, the main suspect initialled K is believed to have handled around 150 clients, and we currently have identities for 114 order givers,” he said.
He added that the network operated at various state and private universities in East Java, Central Java, West Java, and Kalimantan, with service fees ranging from Rp500 million to Rp700 million per participant.
For the proxies, Luthfie continued, payments received ranged from Rp20 million to Rp75 million, particularly for prestigious faculties like medicine.
“From preliminary examinations, there is no involvement from university parties in this case,” he said.
The suspects are charged under Article 263 of the Criminal Code on document forgery, Article 69 in conjunction with Article 61 of Law No. 20 of 2003 on the National Education System, and Article 96 in conjunction with Article 5 letter f of Law No. 23 of 2006 on Population Administration.