One of the achievements in the legal sector claimed to have been made during the one-year administration of President Prabowo Subianto and his cabinet is that more than Rp 1,000 trillion in state losses were saved by law enforcement.
The SUAR Team's Universe of the Business World survey of decision makers, leaders in companies, and economic observers revealed the opinion that confiscated money from corruption cases has not been able to cover state losses. This was expressed by the majority of interviewees/respondents (81.3%).
This opinion can provoke pros and cons, just like the pros and cons that occur regarding the practice of displaying piles of confiscated cash towering over a meter high, which amounts to hundreds of billions to trillions of rupiah.
On October 20, 2025, President Prabowo Subianto witnessed the handover of restitution for palm oil crimes at the Attorney General's Office. Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin handed over the minutes of the execution of the restitution from Wilmar Group, Musim Mas Group, and Permata Hijau Group to Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. The total compensation money handed over amounted to Rp 13.25 trillion.
This figure is still less than the value of the restitution that must be paid by the three palm oil corporations, which is IDR 17.7 trillion. Previously, the Supreme Court (MA) stated that the three companies were proven guilty in the corruption case of providing CPO export facilities and their derivatives, and were required to pay compensation of IDR 17.7 trillion.
Displaying confiscated money is a form of accountability to the public.
Most recently, on November 20, 2025, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) returned the money seized from corruption cases worth Rp 883 billion to PT Taspen (Persero). The handover of the confiscated money is a commitment to recover state assets, especially to restore the rights of the state civil apparatus. This is because the victims of PT Taspen's corruption are civil servants who have served the state for decades.
The money confiscated in the PT Taspen corruption case was handed over to the President Director of PT Taspen at the KPK's Merah Putih Building in Jakarta. The hundreds of billions of rupiah in cash were displayed in the KPK's press conference room. However, the value was only Rp 300 billion out of a total of Rp 883 billion.
According to the government, the practice of showing off the fantastic amount of confiscated money is a form of accountability to the public. It is the public's right to know the whereabouts and management of money from corruption crimes.
Benefits of confiscated money
The amount of money confiscated from corruption cases handed over to the state or to the injured party, especially if the amount reaches Rp 1,000 trillion, is certainly an injection of fresh blood for the state, especially those handed over to the Ministry of Finance, which is the state treasury. The funds will become additional nutrition for government programs.
According to President Prabowo, the results of budget efficiency and corruption eradication must be returned to the people in the form of improving the quality of education and scientific research. Prabowo wants his government to accommodate children who are highly intelligent in Indonesia but from the middle to lower economic classes.
Those children will be educated with full scholarships. The LPDP scholarship fund will be added, with the money coming from leftover efficiency/savings, or money obtained from corruptors.
The main allocation is to finance education programs (37.5%). This is followed by infrastructure and social protection programs.
Agreeing with the president, the interviewees of the Business World Universe Survey stated that confiscated money handed over to the state should be used for populist programs. The main allocation is to finance education programs (37.5%), ranging from repairing damaged schools, providing scholarships, to improving the welfare of teachers.
Furthermore, to finance infrastructure development programs and social protection programs. In fact, there is also an answer that confiscated money returned to the state is used to pay state debt or foreign debt and cover the budget deficit.
According to survey informants, accountability to the public should not stop with showing off confiscated money from corruptors. Transparency of the flow of confiscated funds is also needed, especially in which revenue posts the funds are recorded. Thus, the public can monitor how much funds have been collected from corruptors.
To support the maximum efforts to seize the assets of corruptors, the public is still waiting for the seriousness of the government and legislators in passing the Draft Law on Asset Forfeiture.
