Wanted in Two Oil Cases, Riza Chalid Remains at Large

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has once again designated Muhammad Riza Chalid (MRC) as a suspect in an alleged corruption case concerning the procurement of crude oil and refinery products at Pertamina Energy Trading Limited (Petral) during the period 2008-2015. However, to date, MRC is known to still hold fugitive status or be on the wanted persons list (DPO). This adds to the list of cases ensnaring Riza Chalid, following his earlier designation as a suspect in the alleged corruption of crude oil governance from 2018 to 2023. Director of Investigation for the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, explained that in the Petral case, investigators uncovered procurement practices for crude oil and refinery products that did not comply with regulations. “During the 2008-2015 period, there was procurement of crude oil and refinery products. The investigation team found facts of actions involving leaks of internal secret information from PES regarding crude oil and gasoline needs, as well as other information, carried out by one of the suspects,” he stated during a press conference on Thursday (9/4/2026). In this case, the AGO has named seven suspects: BBG, AGS, MLY, NRD, TFK, MRC, and IRW. The suspects are charged under Article 603 of the National Criminal Code or Article 3 of Law No. 31 of 1999 on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes. Syarief revealed that currently, five suspects have been detained in a detention centre for the next 20 days. Meanwhile, for suspect BBG, based on health examination results, city detention has been imposed. “Then, for one of the suspects, namely MRC, he is indeed already a DPO for the Prosecutor’s Office. As for the extent of state losses, we are currently calculating them together with BPKP colleagues,” he said.