Attorney General Pursues Samin Tan's Assets, Expert: This Man Just Wants It for Free
Criminal law expert from Trisakti University, Abdul Fickar Hadjar, assesses that the prosecution process undertaken by the Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) against one of Indonesia’s conglomerates, Samin Tan, is appropriate.
“This man (Samin Tan) must be punished and his assets confiscated, because he just wants it for free. Meanwhile, many people are still poor,” said Abdul.
This was stated by Abdul in response to the designation of Samin Tan as a suspect in the illegal mining case. Previously, this individual, who has appeared on Forbes’ list of the richest people, refused to pay an administrative fine of Rp4.2 trillion imposed by the Forest Area Regulation Task Force (Satgas PKH) due to alleged mining without permits since 2017. Eventually, the Attorney General’s Office charged him under the Corruption Eradication Law.
According to Abdul, mining without permits is an unlawful act that harms the state’s natural resources (SDA). Or the state suffers losses because taxes are not paid. “This can be applied under Article 2 of the Corruption Law for unlawful acts that harm the state,” explained this senior legal expert.
If Samin Tan or his company pays the permit compensation and taxes, according to Abdul, this could be qualified as an administrative offence of not paying taxes and not obtaining permits. But if they refuse to pay, it can shift to criminal corruption.
The Attorney General’s step in tracing Samin Tan’s assets, while also blocking the accounts of Samin Tan and his family, is also deemed appropriate by Abdul. According to him, this can be done while awaiting the criminal process. Moreover, if the Asset Forfeiture Law is enacted, assets can be directly seized and sold, with the proceeds entering the state treasury without a trial process.
Abdul also opines that the state’s losses, besides the SDA results for which permits and taxes were not paid by Samin Tan, if there is no restoration from the former excavation sites, can be qualified as state losses due to environmental damage.