Ombudsman Chairman Allegedly Issues Special Recommendation for Mining Company

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has designated Hery Susanto, Chairman of the Republic of Indonesia Ombudsman, as a suspect in the corruption case concerning nickel mining governance in Southeast Sulawesi during the period 2013-2025.

Director of Investigation for the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, stated that the case originated when PT TSHI encountered issues with the Ministry of Forestry (MoF) regarding non-tax state revenue (PNBP) calculations.

The mining company then contacted Hery, who was serving as an Ombudsman Commissioner at the time. Hery subsequently issued a special recommendation letter to cancel the MoF’s policy.

“Thus, the letter or policy enacted by the MoF was corrected by the Ombudsman, with instructions for PT TSHI to conduct its own calculations regarding the obligations to be paid,” he told reporters on Thursday (16/4).

He explained that in return, Hery received Rp1.5 billion from the Director of PT TSHI. Through that letter, he added, the MoF’s previously applicable policy was also cancelled.

“Approximately what has been handed over from this one person is around Rp1.5 billion,” he stated.

For his actions, Hery has been charged under Articles 12 letter a, 12 letter b, Article 5, and Article 606 of the Criminal Code. He has also been immediately detained at the Salemba Detention Centre branch of the South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office for the next 20 days.