South Sulawesi High Prosecutors' Office Uncovers 50 Billion Rupiah Pineapple Seedling Procurement Fraud
Makassar — The Special Criminal Prosecution Division (Pidsus) of the South Sulawesi High Prosecutors’ Office has uncovered fraud in the procurement of pineapple seedlings in an alleged corruption case that has caused the state losses of approximately 50 billion rupiah.
“There are many indications of unlawful conduct. Starting from the planning phase. If these seedlings are supposed to be transferred through a grant mechanism, there was no proposal, yet it was still established. The land was also not prepared,” said Didik Farkhan Alisyahdi, Head of the South Sulawesi High Prosecutors’ Office, revealing this during a press conference in Makassar on Monday evening.
He disclosed that the project lacked proper planning from the outset, including the failure to prepare planting land. The designation of six suspects in the alleged pineapple seedling procurement corruption case was announced at the South Sulawesi High Prosecutors’ Office headquarters.
Additionally, the procurement of approximately 4 million pineapple seedlings sourced from various locations outside South Sulawesi had no designated storage location. The seedlings could not even be stored at the PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) facilities.
“There was no planning whatsoever. When the 4 million seedlings arrived, only 3.5 million could be stored at PTPN. Imagine the situation—with no proper planning, 3.5 million of the 4 million seedlings ultimately perished,” he stated.
The pineapple seedling procurement budget of 60 billion rupiah was sourced from the 2024 Regional Budget (APBD). According to calculations by the Financial and Development Supervisory Board (BPKP), the total loss amounted to 50 billion rupiah.
“The state loss is still being calculated by BPKP. However, what is clear is that from the 60 billion rupiah budget allocation, only 4.5 billion rupiah was actually spent on seedlings, plus transportation costs. This means approximately 50 billion rupiah or more (remains unaccounted for). Additionally, 5 billion rupiah is unaccounted for. The loss exceeds 50 billion rupiah (allegedly embezzled),” he explained.
Currently, six individuals have been named as suspects: a former Acting Governor of South Sulawesi (initials BB); RM, director of a partner company PT AAN or supplier; RE, director of PT CAP as the activity executor; HS, a support team member for the Acting Governor from 2023-2024; and RRS, a civil servant from Takalar Regency Government. Additionally, UN serves as the Budget User Authority (KPA) for the Food Security, Crop, Horticulture and Plantation Dinas of South Sulawesi.
Suspect BB is being detained at Maros Class II B Penitentiary, whilst four others are detained at Gunung Sari Class IA Penitentiary in Makassar. UN has not been detained due to illness.
Despite the Pidsus investigators naming six suspects and detaining five, Didik stated that the investigation and prosecution will continue. Since the case began, approximately 80 individuals have been questioned for information, including members of the South Sulawesi Provincial Parliament (DPRD) from the 2019-2024 period.
“We will also likely examine the Budget Committee (Banggar) of the DPRD to understand how this budget allocation emerged. We have questioned more than 80 witnesses. We have already questioned the Chairman of Commission B,” he revealed.
From the 60 billion rupiah pineapple seedling procurement budget, Didik stated that the executor distributed 20 billion rupiah, whilst the remaining 40 billion rupiah managed by PT AAN was taken to Bogor under the pretext that suspect RM was sourcing pineapple seedlings.
“We have traced where all the funds went. From the remaining 20 billion rupiah, 1.2 billion rupiah was used to purchase a vehicle. It turned out the vehicle was sold, and we have seized the proceeds from its sale,” said the former Banten High Prosecutors’ chief.
Previously, the South Sulawesi High Prosecutors’ Office conducted searches of two government office locations—the Food Security, Crop, Horticulture and Plantation Dinas office and the South Sulawesi Regional Finance and Asset Board (BKAD) office. Additionally, searches were conducted at the offices of project-winning contractors in various regions, including Bogor, sometime ago.