One Stroke, Three Corruption Cases Surpassed
Two years before the raid on Cafe de’Clan in Cipete, South Jakarta, a member of the police’s elite counter-terrorism unit, Detasemen Khusus 88 (Densus 88), was arrested at the same establishment. He was suspected of tailing former Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus), Febrie Adriansyah, who was dining at the restaurant, then known as Gontran Cherrier, on the evening of Sunday, 19 May 2024.
“It is true there was an issue, no longer an issue, but a fact of surveillance in the field,” said the former Head of the Attorney General’s Office Legal Information Centre (Kapuspenkum Kejagung), Ketut Sumedana, confirming the incident on Friday, 24 May 2024. Ketut stated the Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) had examined the Densus 88 member’s mobile phone, which contained Febrie Adriansyah’s profile, leading them to believe the surveillance was deliberate. He added that this was a risk often faced by the Kejagung when investigating cases.
At the time, the Kejagung was investigating a major corruption case concerning tin commodity trading in the mining business permit area of PT Timah Tbk for the 2015-2022 period. The case implicated several figures, including the Director General of Minerals and Coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bambang Gatot Ariyono, and PT Refined Bangka Tin shareholder Harvey Moeis. State losses were estimated at Rp 300 trillion. There were suspicions that the surveillance of Febrie was linked to this tin case, which was thought to be targeting other high-ranking officials.
However, a raid on Cafe de’Clan on Wednesday, 8 July, shifted these assumptions. A joint team from the Police’s Corruption Eradication Corps (Kortas Tipikor) and the Metro Jaya Regional Police’s Special Criminal Investigation Directorate discovered a safe hidden behind a wall on the second floor, the same floor where the Densus 88 member had been detained by Febrie’s security detail. Inside the safe, police found cash totalling Rp 60 billion in US dollars, Singapore dollars, and rupiah, along with a family photograph believed to belong to Febrie Adriansyah.
On the same day, investigators also raided Point Money Changer, located next to the cafe, seizing Rp 7.2 billion in 16 foreign currencies and 71 documents. The total amount seized from the two locations reached Rp 67.2 billion. A police spokesperson suggested the money changer was suspected of being a vehicle for laundering the proceeds of corruption.
Following the raids, the Kejagung tightened security for Febrie, with around 20 armed military personnel from the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) guarding his home in the Kramat Pela area of South Jakarta. The TNI confirmed the deployment was a special request from the Kejagung but stressed it was unrelated to the police raids.
Instead of searching the Kramat Pela residence, the joint police team raided another of Febrie’s homes in the Sentul area of Bogor, West Java. There, they discovered 74 kilograms of gold bullion and cash in rupiah, US dollars, and Singapore dollars, valued at an estimated Rp 282.4 billion. Febrie acknowledged owning the Sentul house but provided no detailed explanation for the gold and money. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) noted that the Sentul property did not appear in Febrie’s official State Officials’ Wealth Report (LHKPN), suggesting it was registered under a nominee’s name.
Police explained the searches were part of an investigation into three corruption cases. One of these involves coal corruption and money laundering related to the fulfilment of coal supplies for several steam power plants since 2018, a practice that triggered power outages across Sumatra, Kalimantan, Central Java, East Java, Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi.