Sudewo Charged with Extorting Rp2.49 Billion from Prospective Village Officials in Pati

Former Pati regent Sudewo has been charged with extortion in the filling of village official positions in his region in 2026. KPK public prosecutors stated that Sudewo and three other defendants, who served as village heads, unlawfully amassed funds totalling Rp2.49 billion.

During a trial session for the reading of the indictment held at the Semarang Corruption Court on Monday (15/6/2026), prosecutors said Sudewo ordered the Head of the Pati Regency Community and Village Empowerment Service (Dispermades), Tri Hariyama, not to fill vacant village official positions in 2025. This was despite the Pati 2025 regional budget already allocating Fixed Income (Siltap) of Rp9.9 billion.

Sudewo then asked Tri to calculate the number of vacant village official positions. “Following up on this, Tri Hariyama calculated the number of vacant village official positions in Pati Regency at 660, consisting of 26 village heads, 97 village secretaries, and 537 section heads, affairs heads, and hamlet heads,” the prosecutor revealed.

Additionally, the Siltap budget for six months, namely July-December 2026, was calculated at Rp9.23 billion. This budget was subsequently included in the discussion of the draft 2026 Pati regional budget.

Sudewo then gathered four village heads who were part of his campaign team in the 2024 Pati Regent Election. During the meeting, they discussed the filling of village official positions in Pati. Sudewo subsequently ordered one of the village heads to create a WhatsApp conversation group named “Korcam Bupati Pati”.