Former KPK Chief Speaks on Bauxite Mining Permit Corruption Case in West Kalimantan

Former KPK Deputy Chief Saut Situmorang has commented on the corruption case involving the management of PT Quality Success Sejahtera’s (QSS) bauxite mining permit (IUP) in West Kalimantan (Kalbar) from 2017 to 2025, handled by the Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung).

Saut stated that law enforcement agencies are likely focusing on proving the primary criminal act before expanding the investigation to other suspected parties involved in the case.

‘I think the prosecutors’ strategy is that the crime has occurred; now it’s about who did what,’ he said in a statement on Thursday (28 May).

Saut explained that discrepancies between the actual mining location and the area specified in the permit are not uncommon in the mining industry.

‘It’s common for mining sites to differ from the permitted area; illegal mines typically operate outside their licensed zones or without permits,’ he added.

Thus, Saut stressed that law enforcement should thoroughly investigate those who issued the mining permits, including any backing or protection from relevant parties, as instructed by President Prabowo Subianto.

‘In this case, the focus should be on the permit issuers. If businesspeople will do anything, then who are the government officials—ministry or regional authorities—who issued the permits?’ he said.

Saut also recalled that in 2016, mining permit authority was in a transitional phase between central and regional governments. Investigators must determine who had jurisdiction when the permit was issued.

‘In 2016, I remember permit authority was still with the central government or regional authorities; it depends on who intended to act maliciously,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of the Indonesian Prosecutors Commission (Komjak), Nurokhman, confirmed his office would monitor the corruption case involving businessman Sudianto, alias Aseng, handled by the Attorney General’s Office.

‘Komjak is monitoring the case and confident the Attorney General’s Office will resolve it from start to finish,’ he said.

The Attorney General’s Office previously named Sudianto (SDT), beneficial owner of PT QSS, as a suspect in the alleged corruption over mismanagement of QSS’s mining permit in West Kalimantan.

Sudianto is accused of directly managing mining activities outside the permitted area by controlling the company’s operations.

Recently, the Attorney General’s Office added four more suspects: YA, as QSS Commissioner; IA, as QSS Permit Consultant and BMU Director; AP, as QSS Director; and HSFD, as Mining Analyst at the Mineral Business Development Directorate of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

Head of the Attorney General’s Office’s Legal Public Information Centre, Anang Supriatna, stated the case began when Sudianto (SDT) and YA acquired PT QSS, a bauxite mining company. He explained that PT QSS was proven to mine outside its permit area.

The illegally mined bauxite was then exported using PT QSS’s official documents, including the IUP-OP, Work and Budget Plan (RKAB), and Export Approval Recommendation.

‘In reality, bauxite mining did not occur within PT QSS’s permitted area, yet they sold illegally obtained bauxite from outside the zone,’ he said in a written statement cited on Monday (25 May).

During implementation, he noted, bribery occurred in processing export documentation. Suspect IA communicated and paid money to HSFD, a government official and analyst at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

‘Thus, permits were unlawfully issued despite documents not meeting requirements,’ he added.