Sony Sanjaya's Confidant Named Suspect in Free Nutritious Meals Corruption Case

The Attorney General’s Office has named a further suspect in the corruption case concerning the management of the Free Nutritious Meals programme. Director of Investigation at the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, stated that the suspect is Asep Yusuf Somantri, a confidant of former Deputy Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Sony Sanjaya. “On Saturday, 6 June 2026, the investigative team named one suspect, AYS, a private party,” he said during a press conference on Thursday (11/6). Syarief explained that in this case, Asep Yusuf was asked by suspect Sony to find partners for the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals programme. In its execution, Sony also violated regulations by granting Asep Yusuf access to intervene in the MBG partner verification team. “Thus he could identify vacant kitchen points and manipulate matters so that prospective SPPG applicants who had registered on the MBG partner portal and been approved would then have their registration status cancelled,” he said. Furthermore, Asep Yusuf was also able to facilitate the establishment of SPPGs at points that should have been closed. Syarief added that the perpetrator then handed over payment to Sony. “After arranging these SPPG points, AYS unlawfully gave a sum of money to suspect SS,” he explained. For his actions, the suspect has been charged under Article 12 letters a and b of the Corruption Eradication Law and Articles 605 paragraph 2 and 606 of the Criminal Code. “The suspect is currently being detained for the next 20 days at the Salemba Detention Centre, South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office branch,” he stated. The Attorney General’s Office previously named former Head of the National Nutrition Agency Dadan Hindayana, along with former Deputy Heads Sony Sanjaya and Lodewyk Pusung, as suspects in the corruption case involving the management of the MBG programme. In this matter, Director of Investigation Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi explained that the MBG programme was supposed to be managed by foundations affiliated with recipient schools. However, in practice, many SPPG operators were appointed because they had affiliations with senior BGN officials. Syarief said these foundations essentially did not meet the requirements to become SPPG partners. The three are also accused of marking up the procurement prices of goods, causing losses that did not support the operational implementation of the MBG programme. These included 21,801 electric motorcycles valued at IDR 1.03 trillion, 32,000 pairs of shoes, 31,994 tablets, and 5,400 units of 75-inch televisions.