These 2 Oil Corruption Cases Implicating Riza Chalid as a Suspect
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) of Indonesia has once again designated Mohammad Riza Chalid (MRC) as a suspect in an oil procurement case. This time, Riza Chalid has been named a suspect in the alleged corruption case concerning the procurement of crude oil and refinery products at Pertamina Energy Trading Limited (Petral) during the period 2008-2015.
This was officially announced by the Director of Investigation of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, during a press conference at the AGO headquarters in South Jakarta on Thursday evening (9/4/2026).
Syarief announced that seven suspects have been designated in this alleged corruption case involving the procurement of crude oil and refinery products at Petral from 2008 to 2015, one of whom is Mohammad Riza Chalid.
Syarief explained that during the period 2008-2015, there were procurements of crude oil and refinery products at PT Pertamina. According to him, the investigation team found facts of misconduct involving the leakage of internal confidential information from Pertamina Energy Services (PES) regarding crude oil and gasoline (gasoline) requirements, as well as other information, carried out by one of the suspects.
“Then, another suspect, namely MRC (Mohammad Riza Chalid), as the beneficial owner (BO) of several companies together with suspect IRW through several of his companies or affiliated companies, has influenced the procurement process or tender for crude oil, refinery products, and transportation,” said Syarief.
As is known, Riza Chalid himself had previously been designated as a suspect in the alleged corruption case of crude oil governance from 2018 to 2023. Riza Chalid was designated as a suspect on 10 July 2025.
With the designation of this new case, it means that there are now two cases implicating Riza Chalid as a suspect.
However, to date, Riza Chalid’s whereabouts remain unknown. Nevertheless, the Attorney General’s Office officially included Riza Chalid on the Wanted Persons List (DPO) since 19 August 2025.
The last known whereabouts, Minister of Immigration and Corrections (Imipas) Agus Andrianto stated that Riza Chalid was monitored ‘hiding’ in a neighbouring country, namely Malaysia.
So, what is the chronology of the cases implicating Riza Chalid? Here is a summary.
Before being listed as a suspect in the Petral case, MRC was designated in the corruption case of crude oil and refinery product governance at PT Pertamina (Persero), Subholding, and Contractors of Cooperation Work Contracts (KKKS) from 2018 to 2023.
In that case, there were two stages of suspect designations. The nine first-stage suspects designated on Monday (24/2/2025) have already been sentenced by the Panel of Judges at the end of February 2026.
Meanwhile, the nine second-stage suspects designated by the AGO on Thursday (10/7/2025) have not yet undergone trial proceedings to date. One of the suspects in the second stage is Riza Chalid.
First Case Involving Riza Chalid
The first case making Riza Chalid a suspect is the alleged corruption of crude oil and refinery product governance at PT Pertamina (Persero), Subholding, and Contractors of Cooperation Work Contracts (KKKS) from 2018 to 2023.
On Thursday (10/7/2025), the AGO designated nine new suspects in this alleged oil corruption case, including Mohammad Riza Chalid. This means the total suspects in this alleged corruption case are 18 people.
However, for the nine suspects announced in July 2025, trial proceedings have not yet been held to date.
The AGO once revealed MRC’s presence in Singapore. However, the Singapore government confirmed that MRC was not in their territory.
“Our immigration records show that Muhammad Riza Chalid is not in Singapore and has not entered Singapore territory for a long time,” wrote the Spokesperson of the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its official website on 16 July 2025.
“If officially requested, Singapore will provide the necessary assistance to Indonesia, in accordance with our laws and international obligations,” added the spokesperson.
Role of Riza Chalid
On 10 July 2025, MRC was designated as a suspect related to the alleged corruption of crude oil and refinery product governance at PT Pertamina (Persero), Sub Holding, and Contractors of Cooperation Work Contracts (KKKS) from 2018 to 2023.
MRC is the owner of PT Orbit Terminal Merak (OTM). He is suspected of committing unlawful acts, namely eliminating the asset ownership scheme in the cooperation contract with PT Pertamina (Persero).
The suspect designation refers to Suspect Designation Letter Number TAP-49/F.2/Fd.2/07/2025 dated 10 July 2025, and Investigation Order Letter Number PRIN-53/F.2/Fd.2/07/2025 dated 10 July 2025.
Second Case Related to the Petral Case
The second case is the alleged corruption of crude oil and refinery product procurement at Pertamina Energy Trading Limited (Petral) from 2008 to 2015.
On Thursday evening (9/4/2026), the AGO designated seven suspects in that case. Director of Investigation of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi explained that during the period 2008-2015, practices of crude oil and refinery product procurement were found that did not comply with regulations.
According to him, investigators found leaks of internal confidential information from Pertamina Energy Services (PES) regarding crude oil and gasoline requirements, allegedly carried out by one of the suspects.
MRC, as the beneficial owner (BO) of several companies involved in the process together with another suspect initialled IRW, influenced the procurement process or tender for crude oil, refinery products, and transportation.
“So, in essence, Mr. MRC through Mr. IRW conducted communications with procurement officials both at PETRAL and at Pertamina, including with suspect BBG, Mr. IRW, Mr. MLY, and Mr. TFK. These communications involved conditioning the tender, information on HPS values, resulting in markups or increases.”