Attorney General's Office Names Riza Chalid as Suspect in Petral Case, Here's the Chronology

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has officially named seven suspects in the alleged criminal corruption case concerning the procurement of crude oil and refined products at PT Pertamina Energy Trading Limited (PETRAL) from 2008 to 2015, as a development of the crude oil governance case. The announcement was made by the Head of the AGO’s Legal Information Centre, Anang Supriatna, during a press conference at the AGO headquarters in South Jakarta on Thursday evening (9 April 2026). “As we know, the Attorney General’s investigation team elevated the PETRAL case to investigation status in October 2025. In its development, the investigation team has conducted a series of thorough, professional, accountable investigative actions, while upholding the principles of caution and the presumption of innocence,” Anang stated. “From the collection of evidence, including witness statements, documents, electronic evidence, and expert opinions, tonight, on 9 April 2026, seven suspects have been named,” he continued. Director of Investigation for the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, explained that during the 2008-2015 period, there were procurements of crude oil and refined products at PT Pertamina. According to him, the investigation team found facts of leaks of internal confidential information from Pertamina Energy Services (PES) regarding crude oil and gasoline needs, as well as other information, carried out by one of the suspects. “Then, another suspect, MRC (Mohammad Riza Chalid), as the beneficial owner (BO) of several companies along with suspect IRW through several of his companies or affiliated companies, has influenced the procurement or tender process for crude oil, refined products, and transportation,” Syarief said. “Essentially, Mr. MRC through Mr. IRW conducted communications with procurement officials both at PETRAL and Pertamina, including with suspects BBG, Mr. IRW, Mr. MLY, and Mr. TFK. These communications involved tender conditioning and HPS value information, leading to mark-ups or overpricing because the procurement became non-competitive,” he added. To accommodate the interests of MRC and IRW, Syarief continued, in June 2012, suspects BBG, AGS, NRT, and MLY issued guidelines that contradicted the Pertamina board meeting minutes. After the tender process, PES, assisted by company YR, signed an MoU for including refined products for 2012-2014. “The tender process for crude oil procurement caused a longer supply chain and higher prices, especially for GASOLINE88 or what we know as PREMIUM and GASOLINE 92. This resulted in losses for PT Pertamina,” Syarief stated. In this case, the investigation team has named seven suspects as follows: a. BBG (Marketing and Trading Director Manager at PT Pertamina); b. AGS (Head of Trading PES from 2012-2014); c. MLY (Senior Trader PETRAL from 2009-2015); d. NRD; e. TFK (VP ISC PT Pertamina); f. MRC (Beneficial Owner of several companies participating in the tender); g. IRW (Director of companies owned by MRC). According to Syarief, the suspects are alleged to have violated Article 603 and subsidiarly Article 3 of the Corruption Eradication Law. Five suspects will be detained in a detention centre for the next 20 days. “As for one suspect named BBG, based on health examination results, he is subject to city arrest. Meanwhile, for one suspect, namely MRC, he is already a wanted person for the Attorney General’s Office. As for the amount of state losses, we are currently calculating it together with BPKP colleagues,” Syarief explained.