TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Several cases of corruption have emerged in the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) in Indonesia, formerly known as the country's Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo). The suspects of alleged corruption include officials from ministerial level, director generals, and ordinary employees.
Alleged Corruption in the Temporary National Data Center (PDNS) Project
The alleged corruption case involving the PDNS implicated three top officials of Kominfo, namely the Director General of Government Information Application (2016 - 2024) Samuel Abrijani Pangerapan, Director of Information Application Services (2019 - 2023) Bambang Dwi Anggono, and the Procurement and Management Official (PPK) for PDNS, Nova Zanda.
The Head of the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, Safrianto Zuriat Putra, stated that Bambang, along with two former Kominfo officials, collaborated to condition the implementation of PDNS activities in 2019. "The establishment was not in line with the purpose of Presidential Regulation No. 95 of 2018," Safrianto stated at a press conference at the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
Bambang and others are suspected of pushing for the procurement of PDNS for the purpose of colluding with private companies. They arranged for the PDNS project to be awarded to certain companies, namely PT Docotel Teknologi and PT Lintasarta. Collaboration with PT Docotel Teknologi took place in 2020, while the cooperation with PT Lintasarta lasted from 2020-2024. The total budget allocated for the project reached Rp 958 billion.
Alleged Corruption in the 4G Base Transceiver Station (BTS) Project
The corruption case in the construction project of the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) implicates the Minister of Communication and Informatics, Johnny G. Plate, as a suspect. The BTS 4G project at Kominfo and its supporting infrastructure is a strategic project according to Presidential Regulation No. 18 of 2020 concerning the national medium-term development plan for the 2020-2024 period. The initial plan for the BTS 4G project included the construction of 7,904 towers in the 3T areas.
Since the phase I construction, the target for the completion of work failed to be achieved. According to documents obtained by Tempo, as of March 2022, only 46 percent of the targeted 4,200 towers had been successfully built. The Ministry of Communication and Informatics had granted an extension to three winning consortiums of the tender to continue the work. However, by the end of the extension period, the winning bidders had yet to meet the target. As of the second quarter of 2022, the total realized construction target was only 2,070 towers. From the investigation conducted by the Attorney General's Office, it was found that the delayed construction target was caused by corruption, resulting in state financial losses reaching a total of Rp 8 trillion.
"It should be noted together that this is not a typical criminal event," said Kuntadi, the Director of Investigation at the Attorney General's Office, in his office in Jakarta on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
Alleged Corruption in the Protection of Online Gambling Sites
The South Jakarta District Court is currently trying the alleged corruption in the protection of online gambling sites. There are four defendants in this case, namely the businessman Zulkarnaen Apriliantony, Kemenkominfo employee Adhi Kismanto, Chief Executive Officer of PT Djelas Tandatangan Bersama Alwin Jabarti Kiemas, and Kemenkominfo's representative Muhrijan alias Agus.
Zulkarnaen is suspected to have acted as a liaison between the online gambling network and officials at Kemenkominfo. Zulkarnaen is alleged to have arranged the distribution of proceeds from the practice of securing online gambling sites. According to the prosecutor's indictment, Zulkarnaen received a commission of 30 percent from the bribery to secure the online gambling sites.
The indictment mentioned that Zulkarnaen, Adhi, and another defendant, Muhrijan, met at the Pergrams Senopati Caf. During the meeting, Adhi introduced Muhrijan to Zulkarnaen, who claimed to have close ties with Minister Budi Arie. Zulkarnaen was promised to receive a reward of Rp 3 million for each online gambling site they protected.
In the indictment, the public prosecutor also mentioned that Zulkarnaen Apriliantony agreed to the money division from online gambling. Zulkarnaen received 30 percent, Budi Arie received 50 percent, and the rest for Adhi Kismanto. However, the involvement of Budi was denied by Zulkarnaen and Budi. "I want to clarify this, so the media won't misinterpret this. Mr. Budi Arie didn't receive anything from gambling," said Zulkarnaen.
Jihan Ristiyanti, M Rosseno Aji, and M. Rizki Yusrial contributed to the writing of this article.
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