Sukoharjo Regent Used Extorted Funds from Subordinates for Home Renovation and Car Purchase
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has disclosed that Sukoharjo Regent Etik Suryani received a total of Rp 2.93 billion from extorting employees during the 2021-2026 period. The KPK stated that the money was used to renovate a house and buy a car. “There was use of the money originating from the collection fees and deposits from regional apparatus organisations (OPD) to renovate the Regent’s private residence. Then there was also the purchase of a four-wheeled vehicle, an Innova,” revealed Acting Director of Investigation at the KPK, Achmad Taufik Husein, during a press conference at the KPK’s Merah Putih building in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Saturday.
Taufik explained that his party is considering charging Etik with money laundering offences. He noted that Regent Etik also attempted to conceal the proceeds of corruption in a house used as a safe house. “We will also consider the imposition of money laundering articles because of the several modus operandi mentioned earlier, and then there are elements of concealment. There was a safe house, then there was a conversion into foreign currency and gold,” Taufik clarified.
Etik Suryani has been named a suspect in this case. The KPK revealed that Etik obtained Rp 2.9 billion from extorting her subordinates. The KPK disclosed that she used two decrees related to the Regional Financial, Revenue and Asset Management Agency (BPKAD) of Sukoharjo Regency for 2026. The two decrees are the Regent’s Decree on the Receipt and Amount of Regional Tax Collection Incentive Payments and the Regent’s Decree on the Recipients and Amount of Regional Retribution Collection Incentive Payments.
“The issuance of these two Regent’s Decrees was allegedly used as a ‘tool’ by ETS to carry out extortion of ‘Collection Fee Deposits’ within the Sukoharjo BPKAD,” explained KPK Deputy for Enforcement and Execution, Asep Guntur Rahayu. Asep stated that in the process of extorting her subordinates using the two decrees, Etik relied on the Head of the Sukoharjo Regency BPKAD, Richard Tri Handoko, to collect incentives from employees. Etik asked Richard to collect 40 per cent of the incentives received by each employee.
Richard, according to Asep, then followed up on Etik’s order. Richard subsequently instructed the echelon III officials within the BPKAD to deposit the collection fee deductions to Nardi, the Secretary of the Sukoharjo Regency BPKAD for the 2021-2026 period, who then handed them over to Etik. Additionally, during the process, Etik allegedly ordered Tri Mulyo, the Head of the General Affairs Division of the Sukoharjo Regency Regional Secretariat, to manage the ‘Routine OPD Deposits’.
“On ETS’s orders, TRM collected deposits from various OPDs annually and during holiday bonus moments. Furthermore, TRM also allegedly provided deposits originating from fictitious expenditure receipts and procurement mark-ups within the General Affairs Division of the Sukoharjo Regency Government,” Asep detailed. Asep stated that during the 2024-2026 period, Etik received Rp 840 million from the ‘routine OPD deposits’ collected by TRM, with Rp 245 million in 2024, Rp 350 million in 2025, and Rp 245 million in 2026. Meanwhile, the money collected by RCH from 2022 to 2024 from these OPD deposits reached Rp 1.2 billion.
“During the 2021-2026 period, it is known that the total collection fee deposits received by ETS reached Rp 2.93 billion. ETS used these proceeds, among other things, for personal interests,” said Asep. The three individuals named as suspects by the KPK are Sukoharjo Regent Etik Suryani, Head of the Sukoharjo Regency BPKAD Richard Tri Handoko, and Head of the General Affairs Division of the Sukoharjo Regency Regional Secretariat Tri Mulyo. The three are charged under Article 12 letter e or Article 12 letter f and Article 12B of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001.