Police Arrest President Director of PT MMS Over Palm Oil Export Case

The Directorate of Specific Crimes (Dittipidter) at the National Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) has detained the President Director of PT Mitra Mentari Sentosa (MMS), Whu Zeng Xie, after naming him a suspect in a case of alleged manipulation of palm oil derivative export data through an under-invoicing scheme on Wednesday (24/6). The detention of the suspect has been in effect since Wednesday (24/6). The detention was carried out for the purpose of the investigation and to accelerate the disclosure of the case, which is still being developed.

‘The suspect, the President Director of PT Mitra Mentari Sentosa (MMS), Mr. Whu Zeng Xie, has been detained for the purpose of the investigation,’ said the Head of Sub-Directorate I of Dittipidter Bareskrim Polri, Senior Commissioner Setyo K Heriyatno, in a statement quoted on Friday (26/6). Setyo revealed that in this case, investigators found indications of under-invoicing, or the recording of an export value lower than the actual value in export documents. The alleged violation, he said, relates to the export of palm oil derivatives, which should be subject to export restriction provisions, require an Export Approval (PE), and be subject to export duties.

‘The alleged under-invoicing practice has the potential to cause state losses due to discrepancies in the reported export data,’ he said. During the investigation, investigators have examined 95 exports of goods to China carried out throughout 2024 to 2026. Currently, investigators are analysing documents and examining the series of transactions to uncover the alleged violations that occurred. ‘Investigators are checking containers at Tanjung Priok Port and examining export documents at Customs. All of this data is being analysed and matched with the investigation results to strengthen the evidence in the case file preparation process,’ said Setyo.

Furthermore, Bareskrim Polri emphasised that the investigation will continue to be developed to uncover the possible involvement of other parties. In addition, a calculation of the potential state losses arising from the alleged export violations is also being conducted. ‘The investigation is still ongoing. We will thoroughly examine the entire series of transactions and related documents so that this case can be comprehensively uncovered,’ said Setyo. Previously, Bareskrim Polri had searched the office of PT MMS in the Pademangan area, North Jakarta, on Friday (29/5). In addition to the PT MMS office, Bareskrim also searched the company’s warehouse located in the Laksana warehouse complex, Pakuhaji, Tangerang, Banten. From the search, investigators managed to seize a number of pieces of evidence suspected to be related to the company’s export activities, including company documents, invoice documents, Export Declaration (PEB) documents, and several computer CPUs.