AGO Names Three Suspects in Rare Earth Export Case Involving PT PMM
The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has named three suspects in a corruption case concerning the mining governance of non-metal minerals or rare earth elements by PT Putraprima Mineral Mandiri (PMM) during the 2018-2019 period.
The Director of Investigation at the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, stated that one of the suspects is Iwan Setiawan (IS), a representative of PT PMM. The other two are Junanto Kurniawan (JK), Head of the Pangkalpinang Customs and Excise Office, and Gian Prabuharto (GP), Head of the Pangkalpinang Branch Service Unit of PT Sucofindo.
‘Investigators have named three suspects, namely IS as a representative of PT PMM, GP as Head of the Pangkalpinang Service Unit of PT Sucofindo, and JK as Head of the Pangkalpinang Type C Customs and Excise Service and Supervision Office,’ he said during a press conference on Wednesday (8/7).
He explained that in this case, suspect Iwan asked Gian not to conduct a comprehensive examination of the ilmenite samples to be exported. The aim, according to Syarief, was to conceal the rare earth mineral content, which is on the list of strategic minerals prohibited for export.
He stated that the conditioned laboratory test report was then used as the basis for issuing export documents. ‘IS asked GP to report the laboratory test results for the ilmenite goods as having content that could be exported,’ he said.
Syarief explained that Gian approved the request, even though he knew that these rare earth minerals have high economic and strategic value and are included in the list of strategic minerals banned for export. ‘The goal was so that the rare earth mineral or metal content prohibited for export would not be included in the laboratory test report,’ he clarified.
Meanwhile, Syarief stated that Junanto, as Head of the Pangkalpinang Customs and Excise Service and Supervision Office, still issued export documents for PT PMM’s containers. He did this despite being aware that the goods PT PMM intended to export contained rare earth minerals that should not have been allowed to leave the country. ‘JK abused his authority by not reporting the results of the analysis showing the presence of rare earth minerals or metals at IS’s request,’ he said.
As a result of Junanto’s actions, 390 tonnes of soil containing rare earth metals were nearly exported illegally from Indonesia. ‘The suspects were detained last night for 20 days at the Salemba Detention Centre, a branch of the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office,’ he concluded.
Previously, the Task Force for the Eradication of Illegal Levies (Satgas PKH) revealed strong indications of export document violations during an inspection of containers containing minerals that were acted upon by the Indonesian Navy at Kodaeral IV Batam Pier. Satgas PKH Spokesperson Barita Simanjuntak said the inspection was carried out on 15 out of 25 containers to match the cargo with the export and shipping documents. According to Barita, the inspection results found indications of violations of the required documents in export activities.