New Name Emerges: Here Are the 6 Suspects in the Free Nutritious Meals Corruption Case
The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) is continuing its investigation and development of the corruption case concerning the management of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme at the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). On Thursday evening (18/6), the Kejagung announced the designation of Glory Harimas Sihombing (GHS), Chairperson of the Indonesia Food Security Review Foundation, as a new suspect in the MBG case. This brings the total number of suspects to six.
Director of Investigation for the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, stated that Glory, a private sector party, was asked by suspect Dadan Hindayana (former Head of BGN) to find partner foundations for the Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG). Glory subsequently handed over money, allegedly related to these SPPG foundation partners, to Dadan. “GHS provided a sum of currency, both in foreign and rupiah denominations, to DH,” he said during a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday evening. For his actions, GHS was immediately detained for 20 days at the Salemba Detention Centre, branch of the Attorney General’s Office.
During a question-and-answer session, Syarief explained that the investigation revealed Glory made payments to Dadan periodically, and the total amount handed over since 2025 is still being calculated. “The payments were not made just once. They were made periodically, and perhaps when needed. So, not just once,” Syarief said. “As for the amount, we are still calculating it to this day. What is the exact figure? Because this was carried out over several months from the beginning of 2025 until now,” he continued.
His office is also still investigating the specific SPPG points that were bought and sold by Dadan through Glory. He noted that there was more than one point, and the tally is still being compiled. “There are many, we are still gathering the facts now,” he said. Regarding the price of the points traded, Syarief admitted that per SPPG, the cost could reach tens to hundreds of millions of rupiah. “So it varies, perhaps from tens to hundreds of millions,” he said.
Previously, the Kejagung had named five suspects in the corruption case involving the management of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme for the 2025-2026 period. The five are former BGN Head Dadan Hindayana; former BGN Deputy Heads Sony Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung; Sony’s associate Asep Yusuf Somantri (AYS); and Commissioner of PT Yasa Artha Trimanunggal (YAT), Andri Mulyono.
In this case, the Kejagung explained that the MBG programme should have been managed by Nutrition Service and Fulfilment Unit (SPPG) foundations affiliated with recipient schools. However, in practice, many SPPGs were appointed because they had affiliations with BGN officials. Furthermore, many foundations did not actually meet the requirements to become SPPG partners. There was also a mark-up in the procurement prices of goods, resulting in losses that did not support the operational implementation of the MBG. These items included 21,801 electric motorcycles valued at IDR 1.03 trillion, 32,000 pairs of shoes, 31,994 tablets, and 5,400 75-inch televisions.