Defendant in Rp38.8bn Coal Project Financing Case Admits to Fabricating Documents

Firman Saputra Nugraha, head of operations at PT Bintang Abadi Sempurna (PT BAS), admitted fabricating documents during an application for a working-capital invoice-financing loan from PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset (PT PPA), through PT PAS. The loan application was for a coal-procurement project with PT PLN Batubara Niaga (PT PLNBB) in 2019-2020.

Firman made the admission while appearing as a cooperating defendant witness for other defendants at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Friday (23 October 2026). He testified virtually from detention for Imanuel Tarigan, a middle-ranking investment manager at PT PPA’s Investment Directorate, and Faizal H, PT BAS’s director.

“How did PT PPA eventually approve the loan and say, ‘All right, I will lend money to PT BAS’? How did that happen?” the prosecutor asked.

Firman said PT Asuransi ASEI had initially requested complete legal documents, including contracts, bank statements and audited financial reports.

“Let me explain again from the beginning, Your Honour. Before PT BAS received the loan, ASEI asked for complete legal documents to be distributed to all the contacts held by ASEI’s agents. These included contracts, bank statements and audited financial reports,” Firman replied.

Firman said Faizal had instructed him to fabricate the contract between PT PLNBB and PT BAS. He said the changes included the contract period and parts of its contents.

“I submitted all the main legal documents, such as the company deed and other documents, including PT BAS’s IUP OPK, to Eko Wahyudi. As for the contract, we only had one ongoing contract with PLNBB at the time, and a new power plant had also rejected us. I asked Mr Faizal what to do about Eko’s request for a contract,” Firman said.

“Mr Faizal asked me to adjust it—in other words, fabricate the contract between PT PLNBB and PT BAS. The changes covered the duration and some of the contents,” he added.

Firman said he initially refused Faizal’s instruction. He said Faizal reassured him and threatened to leave PT BAS.

“As I recall, the contract specified the power plant, the mine supplying the coal, the payment period and, of course, the contract term itself. At that time, PT BAS’s contract was only for three trial shipments. If those shipments failed, we would not get a framework contract,” Firman said.

“I explained that when I was asked to do it, and I refused. Mr Faizal assured me that the contract would not simply be cancelled, because there was still another step: umpire sampling, or a re-check by a third-party surveyor. Even after that explanation, I continued to refuse. Faizal then threatened to leave PT BAS,” he continued.

Firman said he did not understand the coal business and had no contacts in the industry. He also said Faizal had said he would not take responsibility for the money involved in the business process. Firman said he ultimately agreed to fabricate the contract after considering these factors.

“I did not understand the business process and had no contacts in coal. In addition, a lot of PT BAS’s deposits had already gone out—to PT SIP and CV RKA, among others. He said he would not be responsible for the money that had gone to the various mines. In the end, after weighing those considerations, I agreed to fabricate the contract. I carried it through, including signing it,” Firman said.

In the case, Imanuel Tarigan, a middle-ranking investment manager at PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset (PT PPA), is accused of causing state losses of Rp38.8 billion through the provision of working-capital invoice financing to PT Bintang Abadi Sempurna for the coal-procurement project with PT PLN Batubara Niaga in 2019-2020. Prosecutors said the case enriched Imanuel and several other parties.

“The state suffered losses of Rp38,848,461,055.81, or at least that amount, according to the State Financial Loss Calculation Audit Report issued by the Audit Board of Indonesia,” the prosecutor said when reading the indictment at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday (19 August).

Prosecutors said Imanuel acted with Faizal H, PT BAS director; Firman Saputra Nugraha, PT BAS head of operations; and Sandera Para Nino, PT BAS commissioner. They also named Gatot Oktora, head of marketing at the head office of PT Asuransi Asei, and Eko Wahyudi, a marketing staff member at the insurer.

During the initial scoping, application and assessment stages, prosecutors said Imanuel gave false information to Nasrizal Nazir, PT PPA’s investment director, about the source of the prospective borrower. Imanuel allegedly said he had found PT BAS through a friend working at a bank and that Sandera was the child of one of the bank’s main customers.

“The false information was deliberately given by the defendant to conceal the actual source of the referral for PT BAS and the commission interests involved, leading Nasrizal Nazir to authorise the application to proceed based on a mistaken belief in the independence and credibility of the recommendation,” the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said Firman fabricated and submitted preliminary documents for the invoice-financing application, which PT PPA’s Investment Division then used to prepare its initial assessment. They said Faizal had ordered him to do so.

The prosecutor said Imanuel prepared a call report dated 14 March 2019 and an initial assessment based solely on PT BAS’s fabricated documents, without verifying their authenticity. Imanuel also allegedly failed to verify the 21 invoices used to calculate the financing ceiling.

“Imanuel Tarigan disregarded the need for verification, so the documents were never corrected and continued to be used as references at subsequent approval stages,” the prosecutor said.

A cooperation agreement, deed number 99, was signed on 20 August 2019. Prosecutors said that, on Faizal’s instructions, Firman submitted eight drawdown requests to PT PPA, attaching invoices and supporting documents that were all fictitious.

The documents purported to show that PT BAS had delivered coal and invoiced PT PLNBB for payment. Prosecutors said Imanuel signed the drawdown applications for all eight stages, stating that he had checked and was responsible for the completeness, validity and accuracy of the supporting documents.

“As a result, the applications were approved by Budi Harto and Nasrizal Nazir, and a total of Rp67,312,742,770 was disbursed,” the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said Faizal failed to repay the invoice-financing loan to PT PPA, leaving it in default, classified as collectibility level 5, after only two or three repayments. The cash collateral had been fully drawn down before the loan was repaid, and the coal sale-and-purchase agreement between PT BAS and PT PLNBB proved fictitious. PT Asuransi ASEI therefore rejected PT PPA’s credit-insurance claim.

“As a result, all funds disbursed to PT BAS could not be recovered and became a loss for PT PPA as a state-owned enterprise,” the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said the case allegedly enriched Imanuel Tarigan by Rp935 million, Faizal by Rp965.2 million, and Gatot and Eko by Rp1.125 billion. PT Bintang Abadi Sempurna, as a corporation, allegedly benefited from the loan disbursements by Rp35,823,211,055.81.