The Attorney General's Office Has Examined 130 Witnesses In The Tom Lembong Sugar Corruption Case, But Not Delegated

JAKARTA - The Attorney General's Office (AGO) continues to investigate cases of alleged corruption in sugar imports at the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) for the 2015-2016 period. The development of handling the case, as many as 130 people have been investigated.

"Until now, around 130 witnesses have been questioned," said Head of the AGO, Harli Siregar to VOI, Wednesday, December 18.

Hundreds of witnesses examined ranging from private parties such as Hendogiarto who is the Director of PT Duta Sugar International to officials at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Although hundreds of witnesses have been questioned, said Harli, investigators are said to have not submitted the case files in the near future.

This is because investigators will still examine other witnesses to strengthen the evidence of the alleged corruption.

"Not yet (delegated), we will continue to convey the examination of witnesses," said Harli.

In this case, the AGO named Tom Lembong, who is the Minister of Trade for the 2015-2016 period as a suspect. The reason is because he gave permission to import 105,000 tons of sugar to private companies.

The granting of the permit violates the Decree of the Minister of Trade Number 527 of 2004. This is because only state-owned companies or SOEs are allowed to import sugar.

Thus, Tom Lembong was charged with Article 2 Paragraph 1 or Article 3 Juncto Article 18 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999 concerning Corruption Crime in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph 1 of the 1st Criminal Procedure Code.