Bareskrim Ready to Support Corruption and Money Laundering Investigation into Coal Procurement
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) has stated its readiness to support the National Police’s Criminal Acts Eradication Corps (Kortastipidkor) in investigating alleged corruption and money laundering related to the procurement of coal supplies for several coal-fired power plants (PLTU) for the 2018–2026 period.
“Naturally, we from Bareskrim will provide full support regarding the follow-up of the investigation process, which has now been upgraded to a criminal investigation,” said the Head of Bareskrim Polri, Inspector General Syahardiantono, at the Bareskrim Polri Building, Jakarta, on Monday.
He stated that Bareskrim, through the Directorate of Certain Criminal Acts (Dittipidter), will assist the examination process conducted by Kortastipidkor investigators, particularly regarding mining technicalities.
“We will fully assist in the examination of witnesses and support Kortastipidkor, primarily in matters concerning mining technical inspections,” he added.
It is reported that the Polri Kortastipidkor upgraded the status of this alleged corruption and money laundering case from an investigation to a criminal investigation on Saturday (4/7).
The Head of Polri Kortastipidkor, Inspector General Totok Suharyanto, stated that investigators found suspected irregularities in the procurement and supply process of coal to PLTUs by several involved companies, such as PT OBP and PT BRA.
The suspected modus operandi in this case includes the manipulation of coal quality documents, manipulation of the quantity of coal supplied to power plants, and irregularities that resulted in payments or contract prices not reflecting the actual supply conditions.
These methods are also suspected of contributing to coal supply disruptions, which led to blackouts in several regions of Indonesia, including Sumatra, parts of Kalimantan, Central Java, East Java, and parts of the Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) area.
As a result of these actions, combined with the economic losses related to the power outages, state financial losses are indicated to be approximately Rp5 trillion. However, the real value of the state financial losses is currently undergoing an audit by the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia (BPK RI).