Before Being Arrested, The Regent Of Ponorogo Sugiri Already Received A Warning From The KPK

JAKARTA - Ponorogo Regent Sugiri Sancoko apparently received an ultimatum from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) before being caught in a hand arrest operation (OTT) on Friday, November 7.

This moment occurred when he and his staff were invited to the KPK's Red and White Building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta on October 22. At that time, Sugiri had an audience with the Directorate of Coordination and Supervision (Korsup) Region III of the KPK.

"Our focus is not on finding fault but on strengthening the system so as not to open up space for corruption," said Head of the East Java III-1 Korsup Task Force Wahyudi as quoted from a release on the KPK's official website.

The Korsup team also explained indications of discrepancy in the implementation of the DPRD pokir starting from the distribution of leadership and faction rations, the cross-dapil proposal of Rp895 million which violated Permendagri 86 of 2017 to the formulation of problems that did not comply with the principles of development planning.

"KPK does not prohibit pokir, but asks for the verification and validation process to be carried out professionally by regional apparatus. Pokir must also come from the results of the recess according to the electoral district and not overlap with the OPD's duties," said Wahyudi.

Another problem mentioned by the anti-corruption commission at that time was the irregular implementation of regional grants. The findings are strengthened by the 2022 proposal which was only accommodated in 2024 and the duplication of recipients from the same proposer.

Furthermore, the KPK also explained other problems in the procurement sector. Wahyudi alluded to the total transaction of IDR 271 billion as much as IDR 220, which is actually enjoyed by providers outside Ponorogo Regency.

"Meanwhile, from the direct procurement of Rp106 billion, Rp48 billion of which also came from outside the region. Even though the e-catalog was designed for local MSMEs. In the future, local providers need to be facilitated to enter the e-catalog," he said.

The problem of breaking the work package and providers repeatedly until unreasonable prices was also found by the KPK and explained it to Sugiri and his staff.

Then, the KPK highlighted strategic projects such as the construction of RSUD, museum, and deep groundwater irrigation (IATD). Since 2021'2024, Ponorogo has realized 191 IATD points with an average cost of IDR 125 million per point.

Although useful for farmers, the KPK asked the regional Inspectorate to be aware of the potential price loss and ensure the probability audit runs optimally.

Finding this condition, Sugiri at that time promised to improve local governance. However, he was arrested by the KPK two weeks after the hearing.

Meanwhile, Sugiri became a suspect along with three other people, namely Agus Pramono who is the Regional Secretary (Sekda) of Ponorogo Regency who has been in office since 2012; Yunus Mahatma as Director of RSUD Dr. Harjono Ponorogo Regency; and Sucipto who is a private partner of Ponorogo Hospital in a work package in Ponorogo Regency.

The determination of the suspect began with a hand arrest operation (OTT) on Friday, November 7. There were three corruption clusters found by the KPK.

The first is the alleged bribery in the management of positions. Then bribery for work projects at the Ponorogo Hospital and other receipts or gratuities.

In the bribery case for the management of positions, Yunus as Director of RSUD Dr. Harjono Ponorogo Regency knew that Sugiri would replace it since the beginning of the year. So, he prepared a sum of money and handed it over three times.

The first handover was made by Yunus to Sugiri in February 2025 with a nominal value of Rp. 400 million. This money is given through an aide.

Then, in the April-August period, Yunus handed over Rp325 million to Agus Pramono.

Then, he again handed over Rp500 million to Ninik, who was Sugiri's relative in November. Thus, the money received by Sugiri reached Rp900 million.

It didn't stop there, Sugiri also received Rp1.4 billion from a work package project in the Ponorogo Hospital with a value of Rp14 billion.

This money was called by the KPK, initially received by Yunus as the Head of the Regional Hospital.

Meanwhile, in the last cluster, it is suspected that Sugiri received gratuities in the form of hundreds of millions of money from the private sector.