State Palace Responds After Raffi Ahmad's Name Drawn into Customs Corruption Case

The State Palace, through Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, has spoken out after the name of the President’s Special Envoy for Youth Development, Raffi Ahmad, became entangled in an alleged bribery case at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise within the Ministry of Finance. Pras, as he is known, invited all parties to concentrate and cooperate on national economic recovery, citing various factors currently influencing economic conditions. Pras did not provide a firm or specific answer regarding the case. ‘So let us join hands, tighten our ranks, and cooperate with one another to strengthen our economy. That first,’ he said at the parliamentary complex on Tuesday. Raffi himself has denied allegations of his involvement in the suspected import corruption. He stated he was accustomed to being mentioned in various issues despite never actually being involved. ‘That is not true,’ Raffi Ahmad said in Jakarta. ‘Oh yes, it’s usual. I’ve been dragged into money laundering, and this and that.’ ‘But what is certain, in this case, I have never made any transaction and never ordered, nor did I receive anything,’ he asserted. The Corruption Eradication Commission previously mentioned Raffi’s name after he visited the Blueray Cargo office in the United States to entrust or send several electronic goods to Indonesia, such as an iPhone 17. Nevertheless, Acting Director of Investigations at the KPK, Achmad Taufik Husein, admitted he has not yet developed this fact further in the customs investigation. ‘Correct, there is a fact that Mr. RA entrusted goods,’ he said. Raffi’s name first surfaced during a trial at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court on Friday, in a case with defendants Blueray Cargo executive John Field and his associates. Initially, KPK prosecutors questioned witness Sri Pangestuti, also known as Tuti, a customs brokerage service entrepreneur, regarding a request to ship a laptop and an iPhone 17 from the US to Indonesia. The request was conveyed by Yohanes, John Field’s personal assistant, when Raffi visited the Blueray Cargo office in the US. Raffi’s name is also recorded in Yohanes’s official examination report. This was questioned by prosecutors during a hearing on Wednesday. ‘In Examination Report Number 108, there is a cargo entrustment in Bali under the name Raffi Ahmad through Nelwan, a Blueray Jakarta employee in the United States representative office. He entrusted a laptop and a mobile phone, what does the witness say?’ the prosecutor asked. Yohanes then explained that Nelwan was the Head of the Blueray Cargo Division in the US. At the time, Raffi was on holiday. John Field and his two subordinates, Dedy Kurniawan Sukolo and Andri, are charged with bribing several officials at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise with a total of Rp61 billion in cash and the provision of entertainment facilities and luxury goods worth Rp1.8 billion. The alleged bribe recipients include the Director of Enforcement and Investigation at the customs office, Rizal; the Sub-director of Intelligence, Sisprian Subiaksono; and the Head of Customs Intelligence Section I, Orlando Hamonangan. Later, Raffi engaged lawyer Hotman Paris as a legal step after being named in the suspected bribery case within the customs directorate. In a social media post with Hotman Paris on Tuesday, Raffi Ahmad issued a warning to parties reporting things ‘far from the real story.’ ‘Mr. @hotmanparisofficial says … Be careful, those who create news far from the actual story / false testimony / become outrageous hoaxes could face defamation charges. See you on THURSDAY,’ Raffi Ahmad wrote.