Attorney General's Office Begins Probe into Alleged Palm Oil Export Manipulation

The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) is investigating allegations of export price manipulation or transfer pricing in crude palm oil (CPO). The case has reportedly moved to the investigation stage.

Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, Director of Special Investigations at Kejagung, stated that the investigation has been ongoing for about a month. “The case involving manipulation or transfer pricing is currently under investigation. It’s been about a month or so,” he told reporters at Kejagung’s headquarters in South Jakarta on Monday (26/5/2026).

Syarief explained that his office has received additional data from Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa regarding a list of 10 companies suspected of manipulating CPO exports. He stated the data strengthens the investigators’ existing findings. “The minister’s data complements our existing information,” he said.

Syarief said his office has questioned several witnesses but has not disclosed their identities. “There are a few witnesses. We’ll share details later,” he added briefly.

The case remains in the general investigation stage, he added. “Yes, still general investigation,” he concluded.

According to detikFinance, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa previously stated that a joint team with the Attorney General’s Office and the Financial Development and Supervision Agency (BPKP) was formed to investigate alleged under-invoicing manipulation in natural resource exports, including palm oil.

He said the joint team has been calculating potential price manipulation by several companies for three months. Purbaya claimed to have data on the top 10 palm oil companies suspected of under-invoicing. “We’ve been working on this for two to three months. I have a team with the Attorney General’s Office and BPPK to re-evaluate their export values over several years. We’re waiting for the report, but the team has been active for two to three months,” Purbaya said at the Presidential Palace complex in Central Jakarta on Thursday (21/5).

He added that if the under-invoicing case is uncovered and processed, it would significantly benefit tax revenue and export performance. “This would positively impact tax collection and our exports, and for publicly listed companies, their valuations would improve as previously manipulated export figures would now be accurate,” Purbaya stated.