Kompolnas urges public oversight of coal corruption investigation at power plants
National Police Commission (Kompolnas) member Mohammad Choirul Anam has called on the public to monitor the investigation into alleged corruption in the procurement and supply of coal for a number of steam-powered electricity plants (PLTU). He stated that such oversight is necessary to ensure the law enforcement process is professional, transparent, and provides a deterrent effect.
Anam said the case concerns the public interest because it not only involves suspected state losses but also has a direct impact on electricity services. "Let us jointly safeguard this case so that its disclosure is maximised, professional, and has a deterrent effect. Therefore, we also invite the public to participate in this case by conducting oversight," he said.
He added that the openness of the National Police in presenting the progress of the investigation, including the results of seizures and the case construction, is an important asset for public control of the law enforcement process. "This can be an important modality for public oversight, ensuring corruption does not happen again and that the results in this case are maximised. Moreover, this case directly affects the livelihoods of many people, not just state losses but also direct losses to the community," he explained.
Anam noted that oversight of the case would also be carried out through mechanisms within the House of Representatives and the Corruption Eradication Commission. The head of the Corruption Eradication Sub-directorate at the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency, Inspector General Totok Suharyanto, said the handover of the case to the Attorney General’s Office was based on an agreement between the two institutions to strengthen law enforcement synergy.
Former Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes Febrie Adriansyah and a private individual with the initials DR have been named as suspects for alleged corruption and money laundering after investigators held a case review. Totok said investigators had examined 15 witnesses and two experts and conducted searches at several locations.
During the investigation, a joint team from the National Police and the Metro Jaya Regional Police seized evidence including 74 kilograms of gold bars, cash in various currencies worth approximately Rp476 billion, documents, mobile phones, and other items from a search in the Sentul area, Bogor Regency. The search was part of a joint investigation into several alleged corruption cases, including coal governance suspected of causing power outages, the PT Asabri and PT Jiwasraya cases, and alleged money laundering related to debt settlement between PT CBS and PT KNI.