Revealed: The Scheme Silmy Karim et al. Used to Pocket Rp145 Billion from Stay Permit Processing
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named the Deputy Minister of Immigration and Corrections for the 2024-2026 period, Silmy Karim, as a suspect in an alleged corruption case involving extortion at the Directorate General of Immigration. Throughout the practice, which took place between 2022 and 2026, the KPK revealed that the total funds collected by the suspects reached Rp145.5 billion.
KPK Chairman Setyo Budiyanto explained that the money was suspected to have originated from the extortion of foreign nationals, service bureaus, and sponsors who were processing stay permit applications. “The minimum value or nominal amount was Rp145.5 billion,” Setyo said, as quoted from Antara on Thursday (4/6).
Based on the investigation, funds were received directly, both in cash and via transfer, as well as through layering mechanisms or intermediaries. The illicit proceeds were gathered and distributed routinely each week on Fridays. Silmy Karim himself allegedly received a cut of around Rp100 million per week.
The case came to light after the KPK conducted a Sting Operation in the environment of the West Jakarta Special Non-TPI Class I Immigration Office on 2-3 June 2026. During the operation, the investigation team secured 17 individuals, consisting of eight public officials and nine private parties.
In addition to Silmy Karim, who turned himself in on 3 June, the KPK also named seven other suspects from immigration official ranks. The suspects have now been officially detained by the KPK for further investigation into the alleged abuse of authority in processing Limited Stay Permit Cards (KITAS) and Permanent Stay Permit Cards (KITAP) within the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections.
The KPK suspects that the extortion suspects caught in the immigration sting operation established a towing company as a front to disguise the proceeds of the Rp145.5 billion corruption. The anti-graft body also revealed the alleged modus operandi of Immigration and Corrections civil servant Gusti Bernardiansyah, who used an office boy’s bank account and purchased accounts to hold extortion money from foreign nationals’ stay permits.