Purbaya Clarifies Criminal Immunity for Patriot Bond Investors
Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has responded to widespread reports concerning investors in Patriot Bonds and Merah Putih Bonds being free from criminal prosecution. The State Treasurer explained that the guarantee against prosecution applies solely to the flow of funds entering these instruments.
“The correct interpretation is that the money used to purchase Patriot Bonds will not be scrutinised for its source. However, if the buyer has other businesses, they can still be pursued (by law enforcement),” Purbaya stated in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Tuesday, 23 June 2026.
He stressed that other assets belonging to the buyer are not automatically immune from legal action. Purbaya also explained that this policy is expected to encourage the flow of funds into the domestic financial system. “Simply put, the money enters our economy. We can use it for development,” he said.
The former Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) also noted a distinction between the policy providing security guarantees for investors in Danantara bonds and the tax amnesty policy. Tax amnesty offers relief in the form of the elimination of administrative sanctions, criminal tax sanctions, and the write-off of principal tax debts from declared assets. In contrast, for Danantara Bonds, only the funds placed in the instrument are protected.
Legal protection for the purchase of Danantara’s special bonds, namely Patriot Bond and Merah Putih Bond, is stipulated in Article 50A paragraph 5 of Law Number 4 of 2026. “The state guarantees and protects the purchase of the special debt instruments as referred to in paragraph (a) from general criminal prosecution, special criminal prosecution including tax crimes, and from civil lawsuits,” the article reads.
The subsequent paragraph states that this provision applies to transactions conducted in the primary market. Every purchase of the special debt instruments by investors constitutes a legal transaction within the national financial system. Such investors include taxpayers who have participated in tax amnesty programmes and voluntary asset disclosure in accordance with statutory regulations.