Profits and Markups Uncovered in Dadan et al. Free Nutritious Meal Corruption Case
Three former leaders of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) have been named suspects by the Attorney General’s Office in a corruption case involving the management of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme. The Attorney General’s Office has revealed the scale of profits and budget markups executed by the suspects, which have resulted in state losses.
The three suspects include the former Head of BGN, Dadan Hindayana, and two former Deputy Heads, Sonny Sanjaya and Lodewyk Pusung. All three have been officially detained by the Attorney General’s Office since Wednesday (3/6/2026). The misconduct in the MBG programme has led to charges involving the loss of state finances, with the suspects suspected of violating Articles 603 and 604 in conjunction with Article 20 of Law Number 1 of 2023 regarding the Criminal Code, stated the Director of Investigation at the Jampidsus of the Attorney General’s Office, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi.
Daily Profits in the Billions
The corruption method employed by Dadan and his associates involved intervening in and manipulating the verification process for the establishment of Nutrition Fulfilment Service Unit (SPPG) foundations. The Attorney General’s Office stated that while the MBG programme should be managed by foundations at each school, in practice, many of the foundations were affiliated with Dadan and his associates.
‘The MBG programme should be managed by foundations at every school, but in fact, the foundations appointed as SPPG partners were foundations used as vehicles for crime and were affiliated with officials or employees of the BND who did not meet the requirements to be SPPG partners,’ Syarief said during a press conference at the Attorney General’s Office building in South Jakarta on Wednesday (3/6/2026).
The Attorney General’s Office revealed that Dadan, Sony, and Lodewyk used their positions of influence within the BGN to manipulate the verification of SPPG formations. This intervention ensured that the approved SPPGs belonged to foundations affiliated with the three suspects. This affiliation allowed the group to reap profits amounting to billions of rupiah every day.
Markups on Footwear to Electric Motorcycles
In addition to the affiliation scheme, the Attorney General’s Office revealed that the suspects performed markups on budgets related to the MBG programme. These budget inflations included goods and services that did not align with actual field requirements.
The marked-up procurement included 21,801 units of electric motorcycles, which the Attorney General’s Office stated were included by the suspects despite being unnecessary. Furthermore, price inflation was applied to the procurement of 32,000 pairs of shoes, with a budget reaching Rp 1 trillion.
‘In the preparation of the Terms of Reference (KAK) for the procurement of goods and services at the BGN, they were not prepared according to real field needs, and there were price markups, leading to losses that do not support the operational implementation of the MBG,’ said Syarief. Dadan and the other two suspects also performed markups on tablets and televisions. This conduct has impacted state finances. ‘The procurement of over 31,000 tablets was not in accordance with regulations and involved markups, as well as the procurement of 5,400 units of 75-inch televisions, which also involved price markups,’ he added.
The case is still under further investigation by the Attorney General’s Office, which is currently examining the money trails received by the suspects and the total state losses incurred by the actions of the group.