Jakarta. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named two former senior officials of state-owned construction firm PTPP as suspects in a Rp 46.8 billion ($2.8 million) graft scheme involving fictitious engineering projects and has taken them into custody, the agency announced on Tuesday.

The suspects are Didik Mardiyanto, former Head of the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Division at PTPP, and Herry Nurdy, former Senior Manager and Head of the Finance & Human Capital Department in the same division.

KPK Deputy for Enforcement Asep Guntur Rahayu said the two are accused of conspiring to ensure that PTPP made payments to fake vendor companies that provided no goods or services to the firm.

According to Asep, between June 2022 and March 2023, the suspects allegedly engineered at least nine fictitious EPC projects, using the names of low-ranking PTPP staff -- such as drivers and office assistants -- as the supposed owners of the sham vendor companies.

The scheme reportedly involved power plant and smelter projects in Papua, Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, and East Java, with fraudulent transactions legitimized through fabricated purchase orders and payment validations.

“The suspects’ actions caused state financial losses of at least Rp 46.8 billion,” Asep said at a press conference at the KPK’s Merah Putih headquarters in Jakarta.

Asep condemned the alleged misconduct, stressing that the construction sector handled by PTPP plays a strategic role in national development.

“The quality of infrastructure that we use every day is determined by the integrity of its development process, from planning to execution. This sector should serve as a model of clean governance,” he said.

He warned that corruption in infrastructure not only drains state finances but also creates direct safety risks for the public.

“Corrupt practices such as manipulation, mark-ups, or rigged projects do not just harm the state; they can endanger public safety. Infrastructure that should provide long-term benefit can instead become a threat when it is corrupted,” Asep added.

The KPK said the investigation into the PTPP EPC division is ongoing, and further suspects have not been ruled out.