Five Forestry Ministry Officials Questioned in Transfer Pricing Investigation

The investigation into the transfer pricing case involving Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) continues. On Tuesday (18/8/2026), investigators from the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the Attorney General’s Office questioned BP, TR, FY, DN, and RB from the Ministry of Forestry. The five individuals were examined as witnesses.

Head of the Attorney General’s Office Legal Information Centre, Anang Supriyatna, said the examination of the five ministry officials was intended to complete the body of evidence. “BP, TR, FY, DN, and RB are from the Ministry of Forestry. All five were examined as witnesses to strengthen the evidence in this case,” Anang said.

Anang did not specify in what official capacity the five witnesses from the Ministry of Forestry were examined. However, he said the Jampidsus investigation team examined them in connection with the handling of the transfer pricing case. “The examination of the five witnesses relates to the alleged criminal act of corruption through transfer pricing by PT TPL to corporate entities for the period 2008 to 2025,” Anang said.

Last week, Jampidsus named two individuals as suspects in the Toba Pulp transfer pricing investigation. The two suspects are BP and SR, who are known to be tax supervisors at the pulp and forest products company. Director of Investigations at Jampidsus, Saiful Bahri Siregar, explained that the case involves manipulation of HS codes in pulp exports.

Transfer pricing refers to the shifting of profits from business activities, which is indicated to have been carried out illegally. HS Code is a series of numbers used as an international standard to classify the types of goods traded globally. In this case, investigators said that since 2008, Toba Pulp has made sales to affiliated companies abroad through under-invoicing, or the falsification of goods values.

Toba Pulp exported products in the form of paper grade pulp or bleached hardwood kraft. However, the products sold actually fell into the dissolving pulp category under the name high alpha pulp. “This resulted in a reduction in the company’s corporate tax value from what should have been received by the state,” Saiful said. From the preliminary investigation, the Jampidsus team has examined 111 people as witnesses since March 2026. However, to date, the Jampidsus investigation team has not named a single suspect from Toba Pulp.