KPK names Pekalongan Regent Fadia Arafiq a suspect in procurement corruption case
Jakarta, Thekabarnews.com—Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) suspects Pekalongan Regent Fadia Arafiq of involvement in a corruption case. This case involves outsourcing service...
Jakarta, Thekabarnews.com—Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) suspects Pekalongan Regent Fadia Arafiq of involvement in a corruption case. This case involves outsourcing service procurement and other government projects in Pekalongan Regency.
Authorities detained Fadia Arafiq—known as the sister of Indonesian celebrity Fairuz A. Rafiq—in the Semarang area of Central Java. During the operation, the police also arrested her assistant. Furthermore, they apprehended a trusted friend.
The KPK says that the supposed corruption case has to do with buying things for the Pekalongan Regency Administration (Pemkab Pekalongan) for the fiscal years 2023 to 2026.
KPK’s Deputy for Enforcement and Execution, Asep Guntur, said that the case started about a year after Fadia became regent for the first time. Moreover, Fadia has been the Pekalongan regent two times since then.
Investigators said Fadia used a trusted associate identified as MSA to intervene in the procurement process. They said that Fadia did this by telling department heads to make sure that a private company called PT RNB secured government contracts.
Investigators believe that Fadia, her husband (an Indonesian parliament member), and their kid, who is a member of the Pekalongan Regional Legislative Council (DPRD), started the company together. They also say that the company was in charge of most outsourcing procurement contracts in the area.
According to reports, PT RNB got outsourcing contracts from 17 government departments. In addition, three regional hospitals (RSUD) and one district office in Pekalongan Regency gave PT RNB contracts in 2025.
The KPK said that the business made over Rp46 billion in transactions from government contracts between 2023 and 2026. Furthermore, reports say that about Rp22 billion of that money went to pay the salaries of outsourced workers.
Fadia told investigators that she did not know the procedures for government procurement when they asked her about them. She said that her past as a dangdut singer meant she did not have much familiarity with bureaucracy.
Fadia further revealed that she gave most of her administrative and bureaucratic obligations to the Pekalongan Regional Secretary (Sekda). She mostly did ceremonial activities as regent.
But KPK investigators did not accept this explanation. They said that the assertion goes against the legal principle of “legal fiction,” which says that public officials know the laws that govern their duties.
As a two-term regent and previous deputy regent, Fadia should have known the basic rules of how to run an administration. Moreover, investigators said she should know how to do it well.
The KPK claimed that the inquiry is still going on since the authorities are still looking into the money flows. Additionally, investigators are also examining the procurement process related to the case.
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