Dadan and Lodewyk Forcibly Detained at Residences, Sony Sonjaya Picked Up from Hotel

The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has revealed the moments leading up to the forced detention of the former Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana. In shared footage, investigators from the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes were seen picking up Dadan from his residence in Bogor during the night. Dadan, wearing a black polo shirt, was escorted by investigators to a vehicle and subsequently taken to the Attorney General’s Office circular building for questioning.

In addition to Dadan, the Attorney General’s Office also released footage of the forced detention of former BGN Deputy Heads Sony Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung. Lodewyk was picked up from his home in the Matraman area of Jakarta, while Sony Sonjaya was taken from a hotel in Jakarta; the specific hotel name was not disclosed by the authorities.

Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, Director of Investigation for the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, explained that the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme should ideally be managed by foundations affiliated with recipient schools. However, he noted that in practice, many Food Service Providers (SPPG) were appointed due to their affiliations with high-ranking BGN officials. Syarief stated that these foundations essentially did not meet the necessary requirements to become SPPG partners.

“Nevertheless, they were appointed through the manipulation of the verification process on the BGN partner portal, driven by the intervention of the suspects,” he said during a press conference on Wednesday.

He further explained that the scheme was orchestrated by the former Head of BGN, Dadan Hindayana, alongside former Deputy Heads Sony Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung. “These foundations received incentives amounting to billions of rupiah every day, and these foundations are affiliated with, among others, being owned by Mr DH, Mr SS, and Mr LP,” he added.

As a result of these actions, Syarief stated that state financial losses have occurred. All three individuals have been officially named suspects and have been detained at the Salemba Detention Centre, under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General’s Office and the South Jakarta District Attorney’s Office.