Modus Operandi of Dadan et al.: Using Foundations as Vehicles for Crime, Earning Billions Daily

Former Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, along with two former deputies, Sony Sanjaya and Lodewyk Pusung, have been named suspects in a corruption case by the Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung). They are alleged to have appointed specific foundations as Service Unit Partners for Nutrition Fulfilment (Mitra SPPG) to serve as vehicles for crime.

The Acting Head of the Attorney General’s Legal Information Centre, Mohammad Jeffry, stated that the foundations used were affiliated with ineligible BGN officials or employees. ‘The foundations appointed as Mitra SPPG were used as instruments of crime and are affiliated with BGN officials or employees who did not meet the requirements to become SPPG partners,’ Jeffry said.

Jeffry explained that these foundations still passed verification on the Mitra BGN portal due to special attention from the suspects. The foundations reportedly received incentives amounting to billions of rupiah per day and trillions of rupiah per year.

Another offence involved an electric motorcycle procurement project worth IDR 1 trillion, which was awarded to an unqualified vendor. ‘The procurement of 21,801 electric motorcycles with a total procurement value of IDR 1,035,515,297,908.02 was paid to PT YAT, which did not qualify as a vendor because it lacked an active dealership or workshop, and there were mark-ups,’ he detailed.

The Attorney General’s Office also discovered mark-ups in several other procurements that did not directly support the operational execution of the free nutritious meal programme (MBG). This included the procurement of 32,000 pairs of shoes, 31,994 tablet units, and 5,400 75-inch televisions, all of which were non-compliant with regulations and contained mark-ups.

Jeffry asserted that the suspects are believed to have intervened with the Commitment Making Official (PPK) in drafting the Terms of Reference (KAK). As a result, the procurement of goods was not aligned with actual needs on the ground, triggering state financial losses. The three suspects are now detained for a 20-day period. They are charged under Articles 603 or 604 in conjunction with Article 20 letter a or c of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001.