AGO Names Three Suspects in Rare Earth Mineral Export Corruption Case
The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) is investigating corruption related to the export of rare earth minerals in the Pangkalpinang area, Bangka Belitung. On Wednesday (8/7/2026), investigators from the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) named three suspects in the case. The suspects are Iwan Setiawan (IS) from the private sector, and Junanto Kurniawan (JK) and Gian Prabuharto (GP), both state officials.
Director of Investigations at Jampidsus, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, explained that investigators named Iwan a suspect for his role as a representative of PT Putraprima Mineral Mandiri (PMM). Junanto was named a suspect in connection with his role as Head of the Type-C Customs Service and Supervision Office in Pangkalpinang. Meanwhile, Gian was charged in relation to his role as Head of the Pangkalpinang Service Unit of PT Sucofindo.
“After a series of examinations, the investigative team named IS, GP, and JK as suspects in the criminal case of corruption in the governance of non-metal mineral mining carried out by PT PMM,” Syarief said at the Jampidsus Round Building, Kejagung, Jakarta, Wednesday (8/7/2026). Syarief stated that investigators picked up suspect Iwan in Surabaya, East Java, to be brought to Jakarta on Tuesday (7/7/2026). Suspects Gian and Junanto were also brought by investigators to Jakarta from Pangkalpinang yesterday. “All three are now in the custody of the investigative team. They are being detained at the Salemba Detention Centre, branch of the Attorney General’s Office,” Syarief said. The three suspects are charged under Articles 603 and 604 in conjunction with Article 20 of the Criminal Code.
Syarief explained that the initial investigation into this case was actually conducted by the Forest Area Control Task Force (Satgas PKH). The task force, formed by President Prabowo Subianto, then handed over the legal enforcement to Jampidsus. Syarief said that from the swift investigation, it was discovered that the rare earth mineral export case involving PT PMM had been ongoing since the 2018-2019 period. It began with suspect Iwan, representing PT PMM, a company engaged in mining and minerals. Iwan asked suspect Gian, as Head of the Sucofindo Service Unit, to examine samples of Ilmenite-type minerals to be exported by PT PMM.
“The sample examination conducted by GP was intended to ensure that the rare earth mineral or rare earth metal content, which is included in the list of strategic minerals prohibited for export, was not included in the laboratory test result report,” Syarief said. The request made by Iwan to Gian was so that PT PMM could obtain an export permit. Gian, Syarief said, knew that the rare earth metals or minerals in PT PMM’s export samples had high economic and strategic value. Gian also knew that some of the rare earth mineral content in PT PMM’s export samples was on the export prohibition list. “However, to fulfil IS’s request, GP legally did not conduct a comprehensive test on the samples sent by IS,” Syarief stated.
Furthermore, Syarief explained that suspect Junanto, as Head of the Pangkalpinang Customs Office, also knew that the minerals exported by PT PMM contained rare earth metals. Junanto also knew that the prohibition on these rare earth metals was stipulated in internal customs regulations. “However, JK still issued export documents for the mineral or rare earth metals for IS,” Syarief said. From the preliminary investigation, it was discovered that the mineral exports containing rare earth metals that passed the laboratory test and were permitted for sale by PT PMM amounted to 390 tonnes. When PT PMM was transporting the rare earth metals out of Indonesian waters, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) Navy intercepted them. However, two export vessels reportedly managed to escape, while one vessel carrying the rare earth metal content was successfully evacuated and brought back to Pangkalpinang. The amount was contained in 15 containers.
Syarief said that the Jampidsus investigative team is still tracing the destination countries for the rare earth exports carried out by PT PMM. Syarief added that the rare earth mineral export activities by PT PMM are considered to have caused state financial losses. However, Syarief said the investigative team, together with state auditors, is still calculating the total amount of state losses from the illegal export activities conducted by PT PMM.