Judges in LPEI Corruption Case Request Additional Witnesses to Clarify Asset Takeover
The Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor) panel of judges has requested that public prosecutors present a number of additional witnesses in the trial of alleged corruption related to financing facilities from the Indonesian Export Financing Institution (LPEI). This step was taken to clarify the process of taking over assets from debtors PT Tebo Indah and PT Pratama Agro Sawit (PAS) following a Suspension of Debt Payment Obligations (PKPU).
The request arose after the panel heard testimony from expert witnesses, including Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) analyst Andi Tito Pratama and BPKP auditor Novi Khoirul Huda, on Wednesday (29/7). In his testimony, Novi revealed that based on a BPKP audit, the state financial loss in this case reached approximately Rp992.8 billion.
“The state financial loss is calculated from LPEI’s cash outflow at the time of disbursement. Regarding the determination of personal fault, our audit is based on procedural irregularities in the disbursement and the data submitted by investigators,” Novi stated before the panel of judges.
Meanwhile, the legal advisory team for defendants Handoko Limaho and Liu Raymond objected to this calculation method. They argued that collateral currently controlled by LPEI should be factored in as a deduction from the state loss. According to them, the state cannot consider all disbursed funds as a pure loss without accounting for assets legally held by LPEI.
Beyond the asset issue, the legal team stressed that no evidence was found during the trial indicating direct instructions from their clients to manipulate financial reports. “The witness stated they never received direct instructions from Mr Handoko Limaho or Mr Liu Raymond to conduct mark-ups,” the defendants’ legal counsel asserted.
To further investigate the asset transfer mechanism and the responsibilities of the parties involved, the panel of judges ordered the public prosecutor to present Petrus Chandra and Stefani Chandra at the next hearing on 12 August 2026. Additionally, the judges requested the presence of Saiful Hendra and Kosen Limaho to provide testimony regarding the restructuring of the debtors’ assets.