<![CDATA[Regional autonomy in Indonesia ideally accelerates development and public welfare, but in reality, it has created structural gaps that enable increasingly rampant corruption by regional heads. The novelty of this research lies in analyzing the direct relationship between three modes of regional head corruption (bribery, position trading, and fictitious projects) and the impact of structural impoverishment of the people, which has not been extensively studied in an integrated manner. This research employs normative legal methods with statutory, conceptual, and case approaches, supported by limited empirical analysis of five arrest operations of regional heads during the 2024-2025 period. The findings reveal that regional heads exploit the discretionary space of autonomy through three main modes: bribery and project kickbacks ranging from 10-30% of project value, trading of strategic positions priced from hundreds of millions to billions of rupiah, and fictitious projects that drain regional budgets without physical realization. These three modes form a systemic corruption cycle resulting in the collapse of basic public services, widespread illegal levies, and the creation of sustainable structural poverty in regions.]]>
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