Former Secretary General of the Ministry of Manpower Heri Sudarmanto is suspected of using money from extortion of TKA agents to buy a Toyota Zenix

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) suspects that the former Secretary General of the Ministry of Manpower (Kemenaker) Heri Sudarmanto used money from extortion of the management of the foreign labor utilization plan (RPTKA) to buy assets. One of them is a car from 2024.

"Among them are four-wheel vehicles. Toyota Innova Reborn Zenix in 2024. The money comes from TKA agents as well," said KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo to reporters quoted by Antara, Monday, January 19.

The money used, still said Budi, was suspected of being deposited in an account belonging to his relatives. The assets purchased from the extortion were also said to be named after other people.

"Currently the car has also been seized by investigators," he said.

The KPK has also revealed that Heri has enjoyed extortion money since serving as the Director of PPTKA for the period 2010-2015; Director General of Binapenta for the period 2015-2017, Secretary General of the Ministry of Manpower for the period 2017-2018, and the Main Function 2018-2023 then continued after he retired.

As previously reported, the KPK developed a case of extortion for handling RPTKA permits at the Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker). Heri Sudarmanto as the former Secretary General of the Ministry of Manpower was named a suspect based on an investigation order (sprindik) issued in October 2025.

Heri was summoned as a witness in connection with the extortion case for handling TKA permits at the Ministry of Manpower on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. He was then named a new suspect in the extortion case for handling RPTKA permits at the Ministry of Manpower on Wednesday, October 29, 2025.

The determination was made a day after investigators searched the house of Heri Sudarmanto or on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. From this forced effort, one car unit and a number of documents were seized.

Then other assets were also confiscated, including a number of land in Central Java. This seizure is referred to by the anti-corruption commission as a form of asset recovery or asset recovery from corruption.

In this case, the KPK has previously named eight suspects and now they have status as defendants because they are undergoing trial. Two of them are Suhartono and Haryanto who served as Director General of Manpower Placement and Employment Expansion (Binapenta and PKK) of the Ministry of Manpower.

They are suspected of feeling the flow of extortion money from the TKA agent, which amounted to Rp53.7 billion.

Meanwhile, for the other suspects are Wisnu Pramono as the Director of PPTKA Kemnaker; Devi Anggraeni as the Coordinator of the PPTKA Eligibility Test period 2020-July 2024 then became the Director of PPTKA period 2024-2025; Gatot Widiartono as the Coordinator of the Foreign Labor Analysis and Control Directorate of the Foreign Labor Control Directorate of the Ministry of Manpower; and Putri Citra Wahyoe, Jamal Shodiqin, and Alfa Eshad who are staff at the Directorate General of Binapenta and PPK.