Attorney General's Office Examines ESDM Officials in PT Asmin Mining Corruption Case

JAKARTA - The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has stated that it has examined several parties from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) in the investigation of the alleged corruption case involving irregularities in the mining business licence of PT Asmin Koalindo Tuhup (AKT).

Director of Investigations for the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi said the examinations were conducted in the capacity of witnesses.

“As witnesses, certainly. We have examined witnesses from ESDM to explain what happened,” Syarief said during a press conference at the Kejagung building in Jakarta on Thursday evening (23/4/2026).

He noted that this is still part of the investigation materials.

“We will convey it later. It is already included in our investigation materials. We will report it subsequently,” he explained.

Syarief also emphasised that investigators do not rule out the possibility of new suspects from state officials beyond the Port Authority and Harbour Master’s Office (KSOP), provided sufficient evidence is found.

“For now, we have only designated those from KSOP. But we do not rule out the possibility that if there are other officials with sufficient evidence, we will certainly process them. For now, it is still from the Harbour Master’s Office,” Syarief stated.

The three are suspected of being involved in practices to facilitate illegal coal mining and export activities, even though PT AKT’s business licence had been terminated since 2017.

HS is suspected of abusing authority by issuing sailing permits for coal-carrying ships using invalid documents.

Meanwhile, BJW along with Samin Tan is suspected of continuing illegal mining operations until 2025.

HZM is suspected of manipulating laboratory test result documents and mining verification reports, allowing coal from illegal mines to be marketed.

The three suspects are currently detained for 20 days at the Class I Cipinang Detention Centre.

In the investigation process, the Jampidsus team has also conducted searches at several KSOP offices in South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.

From the searches, investigators seized various shipping documents and electronic evidence items allegedly related to the illegal mining activities.