Ombudsman Chairman Named Suspect in Nickel Case: Here's the Chronology

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) of Indonesia has designated HS, or Hery Susanto, as the Chairman of the Republic of Indonesia Ombudsman, as a suspect in the criminal corruption case concerning the governance of nickel mining operations from 2013 to 2025.

“The investigative team of the Joint Corruption Eradication Task Force has designated HS in the corruption case regarding the governance of nickel mining operations in 2025. The designation of the suspect was made after the investigative team conducted searches and other actions,” explained the Director of Investigations at the AGO’s Joint Corruption Eradication Task Force, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, at the AGO office in Jakarta on Thursday (16/4/2026).

Syarief Sulaeman detailed the chronology, noting that Hery Susanto’s involvement initially arose from issues with the calculation of State Non-Tax Revenue (PNBP) by PT TSHI, which was submitted to the Ministry of Forestry.

“In this case, PT TSHI sought a way out and, together with Mr HS, arranged matters so that a letter or policy from the Ministry of Forestry was corrected by the Ombudsman, allowing PT TSHI to calculate its own payable obligations,” explained Syarief Sulaeman.

To execute or facilitate this action, suspect HS received a sum of money from Mr LKM, who is the Director of PT TSHI.

“Approximately Rp1.5 billion was handed over from this one individual,” Syarief clarified.

For his actions, Hery Susanto has been charged with violating Article 12 letter a and letter b of Law No. 606 of the Criminal Code. Detention will apply for the next 20 days at the Salemba detention centre in South Jakarta.

For context, Hery Susanto was recently elected as Chairman of the Republic of Indonesia Ombudsman for the 2026-2031 term. He took the oath of office in the presence of President Prabowo Subianto at the State Palace on 10 April 2026. He succeeded Mokhammad Najih, who led the previous term.