Attorney General's Office Receives Return of Rp600 Million in Nickel Corruption Case

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Investigators from the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) of the Attorney General’s Office have received the return of Rp600 million in a case of alleged criminal corruption related to nickel mining business governance in Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra) from 2013 to 2025. “That’s correct, we have seized (the Rp600 million),” said Director of Investigation (Dirdik) of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) of the Attorney General’s Office, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, at the Jampidsus Building of the Attorney General’s Office, Jakarta, on Wednesday. He explained that the money is part of an alleged bribe of Rp1.5 billion from PT TSHI to suspect Hery Susanto, who is the inactive Chairman of the Indonesian Ombudsman. He also revealed that the money was returned about a week ago, before the determination of a new suspect in this case, namely LS, the owner of PT TSHI. “About a week ago. Before LS was arrested,” he said. Previously, Jampidsus investigators had named two suspects in this case, namely Hery Susanto and LS. In this case, LS is the giver of the bribe to Hery. Syarief said the case began when PT TSHI had issues with the calculation of non-tax state revenue (PNBP) by the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut). Due to objections to making the payment related to the PNBP, LS, as the owner of PT TSHI, sought a solution and eventually met Hery. Hery, who at the time held the position of member of the Indonesian Ombudsman for the 2021-2026 period, agreed to help conduct an examination of the Ministry of Forestry under the pretext that it originated from a public complaint. In the process of examining the Ministry of Forestry, Hery arranged it in such a way that the conclusion in the Ombudsman Examination Result Report (LHP) stated that the policy by the Ministry of Forestry requiring PT TSHI to pay approximately Rp130 billion was incorrect. In addition, the Ombudsman corrected it with an order for PT TSHI to calculate its own burden to be paid to the state. As compensation, Hery was to receive Rp1.5 billion.