AGO Searches Offices and Residences of Suspects in Free Nutritious Meal Corruption Case

Investigators from the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) have searched a number of locations linked to suspects in the alleged corruption case concerning the management of the Free Nutritious Meal programme at the National Nutrition Agency for the 2025–2026 period. Director of Investigation at Jampidsus, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, stated on Thursday that his team had been deployed to conduct searches in Jakarta and Bandung, which began last week and are still ongoing. ‘The search locations some time ago are indeed still ongoing at several places. There are some in Jakarta, some in Bandung, and several other places,’ Syarief said. The former head of the South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office said the searches were conducted to find evidence related to the corruption case involving the former head and deputy heads of the National Nutrition Agency. He mentioned that a number of documents and other electronic evidence were seized from the search locations. Regarding the objects searched by the team, he stated that several of the locations were the offices and residences of the suspects. ‘There are offices and residences of the three suspects,’ said Syarief. In this case, Jampidsus has named four individuals as suspects: BGN Head Dadan Hindayana, two former BGN Deputy Heads, Lodewyk Pusung and Sony Sonjaya, and private sector individual Asep Yusuf Somantri. To date, investigators have examined more than 20 witnesses in the case. The resulting state losses are still under audit. The three suspects are charged under Article 603 in conjunction with Article 20 letter a or c of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code, in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes, as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001. Meanwhile, private sector suspect Asep Yusuf Somantri was allegedly asked by suspect Sony Sonjaya to find partners for the implementation of the MBG programme. Sony Sonjaya allegedly committed an unlawful act by giving Asep Yusuf Somantri access to intervene with the MBG partner verification team, enabling him to identify vacant kitchen points and manipulate prospective SPPG applicants registered on the MBG partner portal, causing previously approved registrations to be cancelled. In this matter, Asep Yusuf Somantri is charged under Article 12 letter a and letter b of the Corruption Eradication Law, and Article 605 paragraph (2) and Article 606 of the Criminal Code.