Purbaya Warns of Leadership Rotations Over Subordinates' Corruption

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February 7, 2026 | 03:26 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has instructed senior officials within the Ministry of Finance to take full responsibility for overseeing their subordinates, warning that leadership rotations will be enforced if corruption cases emerge under their watch.

Purbaya said leaders must be prepared to be replaced if their subordinates are implicated in corruption, emphasizing that accountability should extend up the chain of command.

His remarks followed the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) decision to name the head of the Banjarmasin Madya Tax Office in South Kalimantan, Mulyono, as a suspect.

“In the past, leaders were not necessarily affected,” Purbaya said on Friday, February 6, 2026, during an inauguration ceremony at the Ministry of Finance.

“But in this case in Kalimantan, we will monitor the process. If the case reaches levels below the leadership, we will continue rotating officials until it reaches the top.”

On the same day, Purbaya inaugurated and rotated 40 officials from the Directorate General of Taxation and three officials from the Directorate General of Budget. He said the newly appointed officials are expected to exercise closer supervision over their teams.

“We can no longer say, ‘I didn’t know what was happening below me; it was too far removed,’” he said. “You have to oversee it.”

The finance minister has previously taken similar action. Earlier this year, he rotated the head of the North Jakarta Regional Office of the Directorate General of Taxation after subordinates were named as suspects in a bribery case.

On January 11, 2026, the KPK designated the head of the North Jakarta Madya Tax Office as a suspect in an alleged tax reduction bribery scheme.

In February 2026, the KPK disclosed a new corruption case within the Directorate General of Taxation. Mulyono, head of the Banjarmasin Madya Tax Office, was named a suspect in an alleged value-added tax (VAT) restitution corruption case.

Investigators suspect he manipulated a VAT restitution request submitted by PT Buana Karya Bhakti (BKB).

Separately, the KPK also named two officials from the Directorate General of Customs and Excise as suspects in a corruption case related to goods imports. They are Rizal, head of the Intelligence Subdirectorate for Enforcement and Investigation, and Sisprian Subiaksono, head of the Intelligence Section at the same directorate.

M Raihan Muzzaki contributed to the writing of this article.

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