Rear Admiral Leonardi Charged with Causing State Losses of Rp306 Billion in Kemhan Satellite Corruption Case
Retired Rear Admiral TNI (Ret.) Leonardi, former Head of the Defence Facilities Agency at the Ministry of Defence, has been charged with causing state losses amounting to Rp306 billion in a corruption case involving the procurement project for the satellite orbital slot at 123 degrees East during the period 2015-2021.
Leonardi is accused alongside Thomas Anthony Van Der Heyden, an expert at the Ministry of Defence, and Gabor Kuti Szilard, CEO of Navayo International AG.
The indictment was read by the military auditor along with the public prosecutor (JPU) at the High Military Court II in Jakarta on Tuesday (31/3). However, Leonardi did not appear in military uniform as he holds the status of a retiree.
“The defendant has committed acts, either individually or jointly, as a person who commits or participates in unlawfully enriching himself or others or a corporation that can harm the state’s finances or economy,” stated the military auditor.
In the indictment, the prosecutors stated that the project continued to be carried out since 2015 despite lacking budget allocation in the Detailed Budget Implementation List (DIPA).
Leonardi is said to have signed the satellite procurement contract with Airbus Defence and Space worth US$495 million. This action is deemed to violate regulations as it was done without the availability of state budget funds.
Prosecutors noted that the project later faced issues because the government was considered to have failed to meet payment obligations. The non-payment of these obligations led Gabor to file an international arbitration lawsuit at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
The arbitration ruling resulted in a payment obligation for the state amounting to US$20,901,209.9 plus interest of US$483,642.74. When converted to rupiah based on the December 2021 exchange rate, the state loss totals Rp306 billion.
Denying State Losses
Meanwhile, Leonardi claims that the procurement project for the satellite orbital slot at 123 degrees East Longitude was a direct directive from the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, in December 2015.
“He mandated to secure the 123 degrees East orbital slot so it is not taken by other countries and the use of its L-Band frequency,” he said.
Based on that instruction, Leonardi stated that he immediately took strategic efforts to secure the orbital slot so it would not be taken by other parties or countries, as well as for the utilisation of the L-Band frequency for defence and national interests.
“Thus, the Ministry of Defence was tasked with the procurement, where it would later be used for the state’s defence interests and other national interests,” he explained.
On the other hand, he claims that the entire procurement process was carried out in accordance with Ministry of Defence Regulation Number 17 of 2014, which governs the procurement structure, from the Budget User, Budget Execution Authority, Procurement Service Unit, to the Work Results Acceptance Committee.
He instead accuses that the acceptance of work results by Navayo through the Certificate of Payment (COP) was done without his knowledge and carried out by the work results acceptance committee without coordination with him.
“The acceptance was not by the PPK who received the work. But by individuals who did not know how to coordinate with the Navayo side. From here, it means something is wrong. I could not possibly carry out this work alone because of the system,” he clarified.