Judge Rules Edward Corne's Golfing with Business Partners Raises Conflict of Interest Concerns
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The panel of judges assessed that the actions or habits of the defendant, who is also the Vice President (VP) of Trading Operations at PT Pertamina Patra Niaga, Edward Corne, of playing golf with several business partners, were prone to conflicts of interest.
The panel of judges conveyed this assessment in the considerations before handing down the verdict for the corruption case regarding the management of crude oil and refinery products at PT Pertamina Persero.
In his plea, Edward mentioned that the agenda of meetings, meals, and playing golf with business partners could not be avoided in the context of maintaining business relations.
“What Edward Corne did, from a business perspective, was to seek and maintain relationships by holding a series of meetings, meals, playing golf, and chatting, which could not be avoided,” said Judge Sigit Herman Binaji during the hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court, Thursday (February 26, 2026).
“However, from a legal perspective, it cannot be avoided that this is prone to conflicts of interest which potentially lead to legal violations as in the case at hand,” continued Judge Sigit.
PT Jasatama Petroindo is the representative of BP Singapore in Indonesia.
BP Singapore is one of the companies involved in the procurement and import of refinery products or fuel.
“On November 19, Ferry Mahendra Setya Putra communicated with Edward Corne via WhatsApp to arrange the time and location of the meeting. Then it was agreed that they would meet to play golf at Damai Indah BSD,” said the judge.
Edward was known to frequently communicate informally with Ferry to discuss ongoing projects.
This communication, along with several other actions, resulted in enriching other parties and causing losses to the state’s finances amounting to IDR 9.4 trillion.
Today, Riva and Maya were each sentenced to 9 years in prison with a fine of IDR 1 billion or 190 days of imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Edward was sentenced to 10 years in prison with a fine of IDR 1 billion or 190 days of imprisonment.
The Defendants were found guilty of violating Article 2 Paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended and supplemented by Law Number 20 of 2001 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) clause 1 of the Criminal Code.
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