Police: Coal Financing Case Unrelated to Febrie Blackout Case

The Corruption Eradication Corps (Kortas Tipidkor) of the Indonesian National Police (Polri) has stressed that the case concerning capital financing for a PLN Batubara (PLNBB) project for the 2019-2020 period is not connected to the coal procurement case that triggered blackouts. Kortas Tipidkor’s Head of Operations, Senior Commissioner Ahmad Yusuf Afandi, explained that the latest case recently disclosed to the public relates to corruption in financing facilities provided by a state-owned enterprise to a private company. He confirmed that this case has no connection whatsoever to the case involving former Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, Febrie Adriansyah. “This is related to a criminal act of corruption concerning the provision of financing facilities from PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset (PPA) to PT Bintang Abadi Sempurna (BAS) for coal procurement to PT PLN Batubara in 2019-2020,” he told journalists. He explained that the corruption case regarding coal procurement for PLN’s coal-fired power plants, which caused blackouts, relates to manipulation of the quality and quantity of coal delivered or supplied. Furthermore, there are also alleged irregularities that resulted in payments or contract prices not matching the actual or real supply conditions. “So the financing case and the coal blackout case are not related,” he said. Previously, the Attorney General’s Office issued three new investigation orders related to alleged corruption and money laundering cases involving Febrie Adriansyah. The Attorney General’s Office has also formed a special team of nine senior prosecutors, the majority of whom have previously served at the Corruption Eradication Commission, to handle the case.