Today Tom Lembong Undergoes First Trial Of Sugar Import Corruption Case

JAKARTA - Minister of Trade for the 2015-2016 period Thomas Trikasih Lembong or Tom Lembong will undergo the first trial of the alleged corruption case of sugar importation at the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) in 2015-2016 at the Jakarta Corruption Court, Thursday, March 6.

Tom Lembong's legal adviser, Ari Yusuf Amir, said his client was ready to face today's trial and would clearly reveal all the facts.

"The first trial is scheduled for 09.00 WIB," Ari told reporters in Jakarta, Thursday, March 6.

After the first trial with an indictment agenda, his party will immediately file a memorandum of objection or exception on the same day.

The trial of the alleged corruption case that ensnared Tom Lembong will be led by Chief Judge Dennie Arsan Fatrix, accompanied by judges members Purwanto Abdullah and Ali Muhtarom.

Along with Tom Lembong, Director of Business Development of PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia or PPI Charles Sitorus will also undergo his first trial with the agenda of reading the indictment today.

It is known that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has named 11 suspects in the case. Two of them, namely Tom Lembong as Minister of Trade for the 2015-2016 period and Charles Sitorus as Director of Business Development of PT PPI.

Investigators assessed that both of them had illegally imported sugar at the Ministry of Trade for the 2015'2016 period.

Their actions are considered to have benefited other parties and resulted in state financial losses of Rp578 billion based on the audit report on the calculation of state financial losses by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP).

Both are suspected of violating Article 2 Paragraph 1 or Article 3 Juncto Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended by Law Number 20 of 2021 jo. Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning criminal acts of corruption jo. Article 55 Paragraph 1 1 of the Criminal Code.

The disclosure of the case began in October 2023 when the Ministry of Trade was suspected of committing an unlawful act by issuing the import approval of raw crystal sugar in question for processing into white crystal sugar to parties suspected of being authorized.

In addition, the Ministry of Trade is also suspected of having granted import permits that exceed the maximum quota limit required by the government.