The Special Staff Of The Minister Of SOEs Calls The Roots Of Indofarma's Problems Coming From Its Subsidiary

JAKARTA - Special Staff to the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Arya Sinulingga said the root cause of the alleged irregularities (fraud) in the financial management of PT Indofarma Tbk (INAF) came from its subsidiary PT Indofarma Global Medika which did not deposit the results of the distribution of Indofarma products.

Indofarma Global Medika is the grandson of PT Biofarma (Persero) which is tasked with distributing products from Indofarma.

According to Arya, from the bill of Rp470 billion from the product that has been distributed to third parties, it has never been deposited with Indofarma, thus disrupting financial management.

"There it was found that there were Rp470 billion, funds that should have entered Indofarma, they were not deposited by Indofarma Global Medika," Arya said as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, May 22.

Based on the results of the examination, all distributors have paid bills to Indofarma Global Medika. However, the bills never reached Indofarma.

Furthermore, Arya explained, the bill that Indofarma had never received caused Indofarma to find it difficult to pay employee salaries since March 2024.

Previously, the payment of Indofarma employees salaries was always disbursed by Bio Farma as the parent company. Arya said that Bio Farma had poured funds of up to hundreds of billions.

The Ministry of SOEs also considers that if this continues, it will actually make the finances of its parent company sick.

"That's why now it's limited, in the end Bio Farma can no longer spend money on Indofarma, that's why it's late in paying salaries. If it's done continuously, it's the poor Bio Farma," said Arya.

Arya said that the fate of Indofarma is still waiting for the results of the examination from the Suspension of Debt Payment Obligations (PKPU). However, Indofarma will still get productive jobs with funding supported by Bio Farma.

"Indofarma is still looking for projects where financing operations are assisted by Bio Farma. But that's productive, right, so Bio Farma is the one who is productive," he said.

It is known that the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) found irregularities indicating criminal acts committed by related parties in the financial management of PT Indofarma Tbk and its subsidiaries which resulted in indications of state losses of Rp371.83 billion.

These findings are contained in the Investigative Examination Result Report (LHP) related to the Financial Management of PT Indofarma Tbk, Subsidiaries, and Other Related Agencies from 2020 to 2023 which were handed over by the BPK to the Attorney General at the Attorney General's Office, Jakarta, Monday (20/5).

This examination is a BPK initiative originating from the development of compliance checks on the Management of Revenue, Burden, and Investment Activities in 2020 to Semester I of 2023 at PT Indofarma Tbk, Subsidiaries, and Related Agencies.