Former Surabaya Zoo Director Named Suspect in IDR 10.2 Billion Animal Feed Corruption Case

The former Chief Executive of the Surabaya Zoo Regional Company (PD TS KBS), Choirul Anwar (CA), has been named a suspect in an alleged corruption case involving company funds of Rp10.2 billion between 2016 and 2024 by the East Java High Prosecutor’s Office (Kejati Jatim).

The Assistant for Special Crimes (Aspidsus) at Kejati Jatim, I Gede Punia Atmaja, said the suspect designation was based on Suspect Designation Order Number TAP-863/M.5/Fd.2/07/2026 dated 21 July 2026.

“We have named one suspect, with the initials CA, as Chief Executive of the Surabaya Zoo Regional Company,” Gede said at Kejati Jatim on Thursday evening (21/7).

The animal feed corruption scheme

Gede explained that CA served as Chief Executive of PD TS KBS from 2016 to 2024.

During his tenure, the suspect is alleged to have abused his authority by using company funds for expenditure that was not in accordance with its intended purpose and was fictitious, including for personal interests.

“These actions have caused losses to state finances, namely to PD TS KBS, of approximately Rp10,209,664,735.60. This is based on preliminary calculations by the BPKP of East Java Province,” he said.

In carrying out the alleged white-collar crime, CA is said to have used a budget inflation (mark-up) scheme for animal feed.

Of the total state losses of around Rp10.2 billion, Gede said approximately Rp7.4 billion was used by CA for personal interests.

“Yes, of this Rp10.2 billion, around Rp7.4 billion was used for personal interests. We will present it later, but we have already obtained evidence, we have already retrieved the drive, and it was indeed used for personal interests,” he said.

Impact on animals at KBS

Beyond the losses to state finances, the alleged corruption is also said to have affected the condition of Surabaya Zoo, which has not been properly maintained.

“Besides causing losses to state finances, this has also meant that Surabaya Zoo, which we all love, has not developed, because of the financial mismanagement that resulted in facilities not being properly maintained — dirty, damaged — and the animals have also suffered, becoming unhealthy, thin, tending to die, and not receiving proper care,” he said.

Separately, Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi confirmed that the alleged corruption of company funds by CA had indeed extended to an impact on the health of animals at the zoo.

The PDIP politician assured that no animals have suffered health problems or died as a result of the alleged corruption since 2024.

“So, thank God, since 2024 there have been no [animal deaths]. From late 2023, 2024, 2025, there have been none. Why? Because it has been monitored,” he said at Surabaya City Hall on Wednesday.

22 witnesses examined

Gede said that during the inquiry and investigation process, Kejati Jatim had examined 22 witnesses. The office is still exploring the possible involvement of other parties in the case.

Gede acknowledged that the investigation took considerable time because it covers a nine-year period.

“So this began in 2017 when we carried out examinations, through to 2024. This spans 2016 to 2024. So, for now, we will provide updates later,” he said.

Legal articles applied

For his actions, CA is charged under Article 603 (primary) and Article 604 (subsidiary) of the Criminal Code as amended by Law 1/2026 on Penalty Adjustments, in conjunction with Article 20 letters a and c, in conjunction with Article 126 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code Law, in conjunction with Article 18 of the Anti-Corruption Law.

CA is currently being detained at the Class I Detention House of the East Java High Prosecutor’s Office branch in Surabaya for 20 days, from 21 July 2026 to 9 August 2026.

Statement from the suspect’s side

Meanwhile, CA’s lawyer, Edward Dewaruci, said his side respects the ongoing legal process and considers the designation of his client as a suspect to be procedurally sound.

Edward said his side has not identified any formal defects in the suspect designation process, so a pre-trial motion is not currently a primary consideration.

The chronology according to the Surabaya Mayor

Responding to the alleged animal feed corruption case at KBS, Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi has asked the authorities to investigate it thoroughly. Eri said the naming of CA as a suspect proves the commitment to fixing problems within the Surabaya City Government, including regional-owned enterprises such as KBS.

“The former chief executive of KBS has been named a suspect and detained by the High Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the financial irregularities at Surabaya Zoo. This means that today we demonstrate, as I have always said, ‘sing salah ya seleh’ — whoever is at fault will be found out,” Eri said at Surabaya City Hall on Wednesday.

Eri said the investigation originated from the discovery of a significant discrepancy between the zoo’s balance sheet records and the actual cash position. That discrepancy, he said, had existed since the era of Mayor Tri Rismaharini (Risma) and continued into his own tenure.

“According to the data at KBS, there was a discrepancy of Rp8 billion — money recorded in the cash report but not actually there. This occurred from the time of Mrs Risma up to the present, and we are opening everything up, so there can be no suspicion,” he said.

At that point, Eri stressed that the audit findings must be pursued through to legal completion so that KBS’s financial management can be made clean again and deliver benefits to the public, both in terms of own-source revenue (PAD) and the welfare of the animals and staff.

“I said just keep the process going until this can be proven, so that it returns to clean, back to zero, so that it benefits the public who visit, in terms of PAD,” he said.

“That is what I am asking — that the examination process continues so that everything can be brought into the open,” he continued.

Independent team audit

In response to the finding of inconsistencies in the financial records, Eri ordered KBS to be audited by an independent team, outside the internal choices of the zoo.

This mechanism, he said, differed from audits carried out in previous years.

“In 2022 it was already audited. From that audit, there were amounts that had to be returned. In 2023, another audit. But for the following audit, I said I wanted an independent audit, one not selected by the regional-owned enterprise,” he said.

“Usually those audits are chosen by the regional-owned enterprise itself. So I requested this audit because when I read the previous audit, I noticed things that seemed off,” he added.

It was through that independent audit process, recommended by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), that the alleged financial irregularities at KBS were revealed. The amount examined so far has reached Rp10.2 billion.

In addition, Eri said he had instructed the Surabaya Regional Secretary to go down directly to ensure that the use of the KBS budget, particularly for staff welfare and animal feed, is fully accounted for.