Ombudsman Report Should Have Investigated Cooking Oil Shortage, But Yeka Altered It for Export Purposes
The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has named former Ombudsman member Yeka Hendra Fatika as a suspect in an obstruction of justice case. Yeka allegedly accepted bribes from corporations to help them evade legal consequences in a corruption case involving crude palm oil (CPO) export facilities.
Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, Director of Investigation at Kejagung’s Special Crimes Unit (Jampidsus), revealed that Yeka is suspected of receiving funds from PT Wilmar Group. The money was allegedly given in exchange for manipulating the Ombudsman’s Inspection Report (LHP) to benefit the corporation.
“Mr YHF received funds from PT Wilmar Group related to the LHP through another person’s account, as well as several projects from companies within the Wilmar Group subsequently,” Syarief told reporters at the Kejagung’s Central Building in South Jakarta on Monday (25 June 2026).
Syarief stated that his office has gathered evidence of the fund transfers, which allegedly occurred covertly using nominee accounts.
“We don’t need to seize the money immediately, but we have evidence of the transfers. It’s in the form of bank accounts. There’s transfer proof and witnesses. Accounts belonging to others, using nominees,” Syarief said.
When asked about the estimated bribe amount, Syarief declined to disclose details, stating it is still under investigation. “We’ll release that later. The investigation is ongoing,” he said.
The alleged bribe is linked to Yeka’s role in altering the Ombudsman’s report on the 2022 cooking oil shortage. Instead of investigating the scarcity, the report was changed to recommend repealing the Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) regulation.
“Mr YHF altered the Ombudsman RI report, which originally addressed the cooking oil shortage, to recommend repealing the DMO for export interests in an illegal manner,” Syarief said.
The manipulated report was leaked to corporate legal teams to challenge the government. As a result, three corporations—PT Wilmar Group, PT Musim Mas Group, and PT Permata Hijau Group—were temporarily acquitted by the District Court.
“After obtaining rulings from the Administrative Court (PTUN) and civil court, these were used in pleadings to secure the acquittal of the three corporations as grounds for consideration,” Syarief explained.
Yeka Hendra Fatika is currently detained at Salemba Prison, a branch of the Attorney General’s Office, for 20 days. He faces charges under Article 21 of the Corruption Eradication Law in conjunction with Article 20 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code.