Witness Claims Ordered to Collect Campaign Funds for Presidential and Gubernatorial Elections, BKS Denies

Former Indonesian Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi (BKS) is implicated in an alleged corruption case concerning projects under the Directorate General of Railways (DJKA).

During the trial at the Medan District Court on Wednesday (1/4), a witness—formerly under Budi Karya’s command—claimed that the ex-Minister ordered the collection of funds for the presidential election (Pilpres) and North Sumatra gubernatorial election (Pilgub Sumut) campaigns.

The hearing involved the examination of witnesses for three defendants: Muhlis Hanggani Capah, as the Commitment Making Official (PPK) of DJKA at the Ministry of Transportation; Eddy Kurniawan Winarto, as Commissioner of PT Tri Tirta Permata; and Muhammad Chusnul, as Junior Expert Railway Infrastructure Inspector at the Railway Infrastructure Directorate.

The proceedings featured three witnesses: Danto, as Director of Railway Traffic and Transport at the Directorate General of Railways, Ministry of Transportation; Hardho, as Head of the Working Group (Pokja) for the Railway Line Improvement Package Procurement; and Budi Karya, the former Minister of Transportation. However, Budi Karya was unable to attend the Medan District Court in person and provided testimony virtually via Zoom.

In the trial, witness Danto initially admitted that Budi Karya, then serving as Minister of Transportation, asked him to collect a total of Rp5.5 billion from contractors. The funds were reportedly for supporting the presidential and North Sumatra gubernatorial elections.

“So at that time, he asked for help with the presidential election. I was just carrying out the task that had been done before. He (Budi Karya) asked me, and coincidentally the Director General was there too, saying there was a task that needed to be done. But I was confused about where to get the funds. Please help,” Danto explained while testifying.

Therefore, the issue of funds for the presidential and North Sumatra gubernatorial election victories was discussed in a meeting with nine Commitment Making Officials (PPK). The meeting resulted in each PPK being required to contribute Rp500 million. The funds were allegedly obtained from their respective contractors.

“The PPK asked the contractors to pay directly. So the contractors were called by the PPK. The PPK instructed their respective contractors to transfer the money. That’s correct (the money in Medan was for the gubernatorial election victory),” Danto clarified.

Budi Karya’s Denial

During the trial, Budi Karya firmly denied the witness’s accusations. He claimed he never ordered the witness to collect funds for the presidential and North Sumatra regional elections.

“The collection of funds for the presidential election and the North Sumatra regional election for Bobby is wrong and untrue. I never ordered Mr Danto to do that, Your Honour. I never directed it. Insha’Allah, I am telling the truth. There was no order to collect money,” Budi Karya asserted emphatically.

Judge Khamozaro pressed Budi Karya with various questions. This was because two witnesses presented in the trial claimed that the former Minister of Transportation was involved.

“Think about it first; it’s impossible for the witness to be so detailed in explaining this in the minutes. Is it true or not that there was direction from you for winning tenders and collecting money from PPK?” Khamozaro asked, to which Budi Karya immediately replied “no”.

On the other hand, Advent Kristanto Nababan, legal adviser to defendant Eddy (a businessman), revealed that his client was trapped in a complicated situation within the Ministry of Transportation.

“So we are interested in pursuing which facts are true. Because our client (Eddy) in this case was actually trapped in an internal scenario at the Ministry of Transportation. So from this case, we see a hierarchy of power relations. First, the minister, then the director, Harno, then Hardo as Pokja, and then the PPK. Harno said he received orders from his superior, the minister (Budi Karya),” Advent explained.

He mentioned that two witnesses, Danto and Harno, claimed they were ordered by Budi Karya to win tenders while also requesting money from contractors for presidential and North Sumatra gubernatorial election funds.

“They were instructed by the minister, so the tenders were won by certain companies. Now, in the trial, the ones accused of arranging it are our client, Eddy Kurniawan, along with the PPK, Pokja, and director,” Advent clarified.

In the hearing, another legal adviser for Eddy, Daniel Heri Pasaribu, also questioned Budi Karya. Starting his questions, he stated that based on the trial facts, Budi Karya ordered the railway track work tender to be won by PT Waskita Karya.

“Witness Harno, as Director of Railway Facilities, stated that the Medan package had directions from you to win PT Waskita Karya because that company had previously incurred a Rp1 trillion loss in Palembang, South Sumatra. Is it true there was a ministerial direction to award the tender to PT Waskita Karya?” Daniel asked.

However, Budi Karya denied it again. He even claimed he only knew the Director of PT Waskita Karya.

“As I said earlier, I never ordered Harno to award the tender to Waskita Karya. Never. Because I only know the director,” said the Minister of Transportation during the seventh President of Indonesia Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) administration.

The proceedings were briefly disrupted due to Budi Karya’s unstable connection.

Therefore, Khamozaro still ordered Budi Karya to appear in person at the Medan District Court on 8 April 2026 to provide testimony as a witness.