Police: Corruption in Sugar Factory Project Causes Rp645 Billion in State Losses

Investigators from the Police Anti-Corruption Corps (Kortas Tipikor) have disclosed that state losses arising from the alleged corruption case in the revitalisation and modernisation project of the Assembagoes Sugar Factory in Situbondo amount to Rp645 billion. “In this alleged corruption case, the state financial loss based on the audit results from the BPK (Supreme Audit Agency) is approximately more than Rp645 billion,” said Head of the Investigation Team at the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Police Anti-Corruption Corps, Senior Commissioner Gunawan, in East Jakarta on Tuesday (9/6). Gunawan made the statement while briefing reporters after conducting a search at one of the state-owned construction company offices located on Jalan DI Panjaitan, East Jakarta. During the search, investigators seized a number of pieces of evidence in the form of documents in both soft copy and hard copy formats, as well as electronic evidence in the form of emails. The police investigators also searched three other locations related to the investigation of the alleged EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) corruption at the Asembagoes Sugar Factory. The three locations are the residence of the President Director of PT Multinas Indonesia, Tjahjadi Dajadibrata, in the Galaxy Bumi Permai area of Surabaya; the office of PT Multinas Tjahja Sejahtera at Ruko Klampis Megah, Surabaya; and the office of PT Barata Indonesia on Jalan Veteran Number 241, Gresik, East Java. “Today’s activities are an effort to collect additional evidence. We will analyse and examine this evidence further to strengthen the proof in the investigation process we are carrying out,” he said. The development and modernisation project of the Assembagoes Sugar Factory in Situbondo, East Java, ran from 2016 to 2022. The project, which is part of a strategic state-owned enterprise programme, obtained funding from State Capital Injection (PMN) amounting to Rp650 billion, plus additional loans exceeding Rp462 billion. However, the project failed to meet several key targets, such as milling capacity, product quality, and electricity production for export. As of now, investigators from the Police Anti-Corruption Corps are still examining the case and have not yet named any suspects.