A panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court convicted eight civil servants from Indonesia's Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker) of extorting over 20 agents and companies handling foreign worker permits (RPTKA) for Rp130.51 billion from 2017 to 2025. The defendants received prison sentences ranging from 4 to 7.5 years. The verdict was read on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
The panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor) found eight Kemnaker civil servants guilty of joint and continuous corruption. They extorted RPTKA agents and companies by promising to expedite approvals from 7-14 days to under seven days. "There were 1.14 million RPTKA approvals at the PPTKA Directorate of Kemnaker, of which 95 percent involved unofficial payments," Judge Ida Ayu stated in the hearing.
The defendants include Dirjen Binapenta and PKK Kemnaker Suhartono (2020-2023, 4 years), Devi Angraeni (5 years), Putri Citra Wahyoe, Jamal Shodiqin, and Alfa Eshad (each 5 years 6 months), Gatot Widiartono (6 years), Wisnu Pramono (6 years 6 months), and Haryanto (7 years 6 months). Chief Judge Lucy Ermawati affirmed that the civil servants forced employers to provide money or goods for RPTKA processing, or applications would not proceed.
Payments ranged from Rp300,000 to Rp800,000 per foreign worker (TKA), via cash or transfer, allowing agents to charge higher fees and gain more clients. The total haul reached Rp130.51 billion from over 20 companies.
