Attorney General's Office Detains RI Ombudsman Chairman Suspect in Nickel Business Management Corruption Case
JAKARTA - The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) of Indonesia has detained Hery Susanto (HS), the Chairman of the Indonesian Ombudsman, who has been named a suspect in an alleged corruption case involving the management of nickel mining business in Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra) during the period 2013-2025.
“The suspect is currently being detained for the next 20 days at the Salemba Detention Centre branch of the South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office,” said Director of Investigations of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes at the AGO, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, during a press conference at the AGO in Jakarta on Thursday (16/4/2026).
Syarief stated that Hery was designated as a suspect because he is alleged to have received money amounting to Rp 1.5 billion from an individual with the initials LKM, the director of a company with the initials PT TSHI.
In an effort to resolve the issue, the company is alleged to have sought a way out by involving Hery Susanto.
Hery is alleged to have arranged for policies made by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to be corrected by the Ombudsman, with instructions for PT TSHI to conduct its own calculations regarding the obligations to be paid.
“To carry out this, the suspect received a sum of money from Mr LKM, who is the director of PT TSHI; approximately what has been handed over from this one person is around Rp 1.5 billion,” said Syarief.
With his hands handcuffed, Hery was escorted by several investigators from the Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Acts of Corruption (Jampidsus) of the AGO into the detention vehicle.
It is known that Hery Susanto had just officially become the Chairman of the Ombudsman for the 2026-2031 period.
The oath-taking process for Hery and other Ombudsman officials was witnessed by President Prabowo Subianto at the State Palace, Presidential Palace Complex, Central Jakarta, on Friday (10/4/2026).
Previously, Hery was a member of the Indonesian Ombudsman for the 2021–2026 period and was re-elected through the fitness and propriety test by Commission II of the DPR RI in January 2026.