Attorney General's Office states it has examined ESDM employees in PT AKT corruption case

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Republic of Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has examined several employees of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) as witnesses in connection with an alleged criminal corruption case involving deviations and management of mining operations by PT AKT (Asmin Koalindo Tuhup) in Murung Raya Regency, Central Kalimantan.

“We have already conducted examinations of several individuals from ESDM as witnesses to explain what happened,” said the Director of Investigation (Dirdik) of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) of Kejagung, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, in Jakarta on Thursday (23/4) evening.

In this case, the Ministry of ESDM serves as the regulatory and supervisory authority that issued Ministerial Decree No. 3714 K/30/MEM/2017 regarding the Termination of the Coal Mining Business Work Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and PT AKT in Murung Raya Regency, dated 19 October 2017.

When asked about the possibility of suspects from the ministry, Syarief stated that so far, the office has only designated one state official as a suspect, namely from the Harbourmaster and Port Authority Office (KSOP) Rangga Ilung, Central Kalimantan.

However, according to him, it does not rule out the possibility of other suspects from state officials if sufficient evidence is found.

“It does 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 harbourmaster’s office,” he said.

The three are suspected of violating Article 603 in conjunction with Article 20 letter a or c of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Law No. 20 of 2001 on Amendments to Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption.

Subsidiary to Article 604 in conjunction with Article 20 letter a or c of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Law No. 20 of 2001 on Amendments to Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 618 in conjunction with Article 20 letter a or c of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code.

Previously, Kejagung designated ST (Samin Tan), who is the beneficial owner or manager of PT AKT, as a suspect in this case.

For information, PT AKT, a coal miner based on a coal mining business work agreement (PKP2B), had its permit revoked in 2017. However, the mining company continued to operate until 2025 despite being illegal or unauthorised.

The suspect ST, through PT AKT and its affiliates, is alleged to have conducted mining and sales using unauthorised licensing documents and collaborated with state officials.