The Details of the MBG Corruption Case Entrapping Dadan, Lodewyk, and Sony Sonjaya
The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has revealed the construction of an alleged corruption case within the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme, which implicates former top officials of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), namely Dadan Hindayana, Lodewyk Pusung, and Sony Sonjaya.
Director of Investigation for the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, explained that President Prabowo Subiandum’s flagship programme has been allocated a budget of Rp85.2 trillion for 2025 and Rp268 trillion for 2026, sourced from the State Budget (APBN).
Syarief stated that the programme’s budget should have been managed by foundations at each school. According to him, the initial alleged issue occurred during the appointment of foundations to manage the SPPG, or MBG kitchens.
“However, in fact, the foundations appointed as SPPG partners were foundations used as vehicles for crime and were affiliated with officials or employees of the BGN who did not meet the requirements to become SPPG partners,” said Syarief at the Attorney General’s Office Building, Jakarta, on Wednesday (3/6).
Syarief noted that these foundations were still appointed, and the verification process on the BGN partner portal was manipulated under the direction of Dadan, Lodewyk, and Sony.
“As a result, these foundations received incentives amounting to billions of rupiah every day. These foundations were affiliated with, among others, individuals owned by DH, SS, and LP,” he added.
Alleged Procurement Corruption
Furthermore, Syarief mentioned that Dadan, together with Lodewyk and Sony, unlawfully intervened in the procurement process for both goods and services within the BGN. This intervention affected the preparation of the Terms of Reference (KAK) for procurement, ensuring that the procurement did not meet the actual needs on the ground and involved price mark-ups.
These procurements included 21,801 units of electric motorcycles with a total value of approximately Rp1 trillion, 32,000 pairs of shoes that did not meet specifications and were subject to mark-ups, approximately 31,000 tablets that were non-compliant and marked up, and 5,400 units of 75-inch televisions that were also non-compliant and subject to price inflation.
“Consequently, losses occurred due to deviations in the procurement of goods supporting the implementation of the MBG,” he stated.
Previously, the Attorney General’s Office officially named Dadan Hindayana, Lodewyk Pusung, and Sony Sonjaya as suspects in the corruption of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme at the BGN. The three suspects were seen wearing pink vests and were immediately taken to detention centres following their interrogation.