October 26, 2025 | 09:13 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is currently tracing the flow of money from foreign worker agents by requesting testimony from a labor attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and a journalist.
KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo stated that the two witnesses were questioned on Friday, October 24, at the Red and White Building. "Investigators want to delve into the flow of money from the foreign worker agents," he said in a written statement on Saturday, October 25, 2025.
The witnesses questioned were the Labor Attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Harry Ayusman, along with the Ministry of Manpower civil servant Ilyasa Darusalam, and the journalist, Bayu Widodo Sugiarto.
The investigation is being conducted for the corruption case of extorting the processing of foreign labor utilization plans at the Ministry of Manpower. In this case, the KPK has detained eight suspects.
Those under detention include the Director General of Placement and Expansion of Employment Opportunities for Foreign Workers for the 2020-2023 period, Suhartono, and the Director of Controlling the Use of Foreign Workers for the 2019-2024 period, Haryanto.
Detentions were also carried out for the Director of RPTKA for the 2017-2019 period, Wisnu Pramono; as well as the Director of RPTKA for the 2024-2025 period, Devi Angraeni, implementation officer Gatot Widiartono; and RPTKA verification officer at the Directorate of RPTKA, Putri Citra Wahyoe.
The other two names are Administrative Analysis at the Directorate of RPTKA for the 2019-2024 period and the First Expert Referral Worker at the Directorate of RPTKA for the 2024-2025 period, Jamal Shodiqin; and the Young Expert Referral Worker at the Ministry of Manpower for the 2018-2025 period, Alfa Eshad.
The eight suspects are suspected of exploiting loopholes in the TKA document verification process. They colluded to extort the foreign workers who were applying for RPTKA permits at the Directorate General of Binapenta and PKK at the Ministry of Manpower.
Head of the KPK Investigation Task Force Budi Sukmo Wibowo stated that the corruption allegations occurred when the agent companies submitted applications online. The Ministry of Manpower would then verify the completeness of these applications.
If there were any deficiencies in the documents, the officers were supposed to inform the agents to rectify them within five days. This is where the extortion took place. The officers shifted the document verification process from the formal channel to an informal one.
They contacted the foreign worker agents through WhatsApp messaging applications, instead of using the available online system. They demanded a certain amount of money under the guise of expediting or facilitating the applications.
The agents who provided the money would then be notified to complete the documents. As for those who did not provide the money, their permit applications would be hindered.
Budi Sukmo stated that the officers did not inform the agents of the deficiencies, did not process the documents, or prolonged the completion time, resulting in foreign workers being fined Rp 1 million per day.
"The agents had no choice but to provide the money. If they didn't, they would face a larger fine than the amount they were required to pay," said Budi Sukmo at the Red and White Building of the KPK, South Jakarta, on Thursday, June 5, 2025.
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