Attorney General's Office Names Colonel Budi Utomo a Suspect in Free Nutritious Meal Programme Corruption
The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has named the former Secretary of the Deputy for Provision and Distribution at the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Colonel Cpl Budi Utomo, as a suspect in a corruption case concerning the management of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme for the 2025-2026 period.
The Head of the Legal Information Centre of the Attorney General’s Office, Anang Supriatna, stated that the designation of the suspect was carried out through a connectivity process by investigators from the Junior Attorney General for Military Criminal Law.
Anang noted that the designation of the Indonesian Army member was finalised last August. He added that the individual is currently being detained at the Pomdam Jaya detention centre.
“The individual in question has been named a suspect and has been detained,” he stated during a press conference on Tuesday (2_9/9).
In this case, the Attorney General’s Office stated that Budi, acting as the Commitment Making Officer (PPK) for goods and services procurement, was involved in the procurement of electric motorcycles.
The procurement of the electric motorcycle project was carried out alongside Lodewyk Pusung (LP), who served as the Deputy Head of the BGN and Commissioner of PT Yasa Artha Trimanunggal (PT YAT), and Andri Mulyono (AM).
The procurement of electric motorcycles, valued at Rp1 trillion, was conducted unlawfully as it failed to meet contract requirements and involved price mark-ups.
During the execution of the electric motorcycle procurement, manipulations of the goods handover certificates were also discovered.
The Attorney General’s Office noted that in terms of realisation, only 3,229 units out of 21,081 vehicles have been received; however, 100 per cent of the payment had already been processed, resulting in state losses.
Previously, the Attorney General’s Office had named a total of seven suspects in the corruption case involving the management of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme for the 2025-2026 period.
The seven individuals include the former Head of BGN, Dadan Hindayana; former Deputy Heads of BGN, Sony Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung; Sony’s associate, Asep Yusuf Somantri (AYS); and the Commissioner of PT Yasa Artha Trimanunggal (YAT), Andri Mulyono.
Additionally, the suspects include the Chairman of the Indonesia Food Security Review Foundation, Glory Harimas Sihombing, and the Secretary of the Deputy for Promotion and Cooperation of the BGN, Brigadier General Lalu Muhammad Iwan Mahardan.
Regarding this matter, the Attorney General’s Office explained that the MBG programme should be managed by the Service Unit for Nutrition Provision and Fulfilment (SPPG) foundations affiliated with recipient schools.
However, in practice, many SPPGs were appointed because they had affiliations with high-ranking BGN officials. Furthermore, many foundations did not actually meet the requirements to become SPPG partners.
Additionally, there were price mark-ups in goods procurement, leading to losses that undermined the operational implementation of the MBG. These procurements included 21,801 electric motorcycles valued at Rp1.03 trillion, 32,000 pairs of shoes, 31,994 tablets, and 5,400 75-inch televisions.