Jampidmil Seeks to Prove State Not Obliged to Pay Rp 306 Billion for Satellite Project

JAKARTA - The Military Criminal Investigation Team of the Deputy Attorney General for Military Affairs at the Attorney General’s Office has emphasised that the trial for the alleged corruption in the procurement of satellite user terminals aims to prove that the state has no obligation to pay the supplier’s invoice. Director of Prosecution at Jampidmil, Zet Tedung Allo, stated that no payment obligation arises if the work forming the basis of the claim was never carried out as it should have been. “That is what we will prove in court. Whether the state’s obligation should arise from something whose performance was never done by the claimant,” Zet said after the first hearing at the Jakarta Military Court on Tuesday (31/3/2026). “We are defending the state, not colonising the party that has a legitimate claim. The state will certainly pay if the goods and services procured meet the needs. To this day, there is no benefit from those goods,” he added. Based on calculations by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP), the potential state loss in the project amounts to around Rp 306 billion, which has not been paid to PT Navayo International. However, this will be tested in the trial process. “The obligation from the court ruling is considered to ensure the state must pay because it has the force of law based on the ICC decision. That is precisely what we will prove in this trial, that the claim is based on a cause that is not in accordance with the law, namely a crime,” Zet said. Through the trial, Jampidmil seeks to determine whether the basis for the claim against the state is legally valid or relates to alleged criminal acts, so it cannot be imposed as a state obligation. In the hearing, the Military Auditor presented two defendants, namely Rear Admiral (Ret.) Leonardi and Anthony Thomas Van Der Hayden. At the time of the alleged corruption, Leonardi served as Head of the Defence Facilities Agency of the Ministry of Defence as well as the Commitment Making Official (PPK). Meanwhile, Anthony Thomas Van Der Hayden, a US citizen, acted as an expert for the Ministry of Defence and an intermediary in the project. In addition to the two defendants, another defendant, Gabor Kuti, as CEO of Navayo International AG based in Hungary, did not attend the hearing as he remains on the wanted list (DPO). They are charged under Article 2 paragraph (1) jo Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001, jo Article 55 paragraph (1) first and jo Article 64 of the Criminal Code. Subsidiarily, the investigators also charge the suspects under Article 3 jo Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001, jo Article 55 paragraph (1) first and jo Article 64 of the Criminal Code. Or, more subsidiarily, the suspects are charged under Article 8 jo Article 18 of Law No. 31 of 1999 as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001, jo Article 55 paragraph (1) first and jo Article 64 of the Criminal Code.