2 New Suspects Of Corruption In The Southeast Sulawesi Kolaka Mine, One Of Them Is The Inspector Of The Ministry Of Energy And Mineral Resources

SULTRA - The Southeast Sulawesi High Prosecutor's Office (Kejati) has again named two new suspects in a corruption case of abuse of authority related to mining management in Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi.

Assistant Pidsus for the Southeast Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office, Aditya Aelman Ali, said that from the alleged corruption, it was estimated that the state financial loss was IDR 233 billion.

He conveyed that the two suspects, including RM, the private intermediary for the management of the Work Plan and Budget (RKAB) PT AM, and AT as the Mining Inspector of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources RI who served in Southeast Sulawesi.

"RM was asked by the suspect MM (already detained) to process the RKAB document for 2023 PT AM. In that process, RM received billions of rupiah from MM to be distributed to a number of parties, including AT," said Aditya Aelman when met in Kendari, Friday, quoted by Antara.

He said that AT, who in 2022 served as a member of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources' coaching and supervision team, was suspected of making fictitious RKAB documents as if PT AM was mining that year.

"The incorrect document was then approved by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and used as the basis for the 2023 RKAB quota," he said.

Aditya Aelman revealed that the quota was then sold by MM as PT AM to a number of traders at a price of 56 US dollars per ton. For its role, AT received hundreds of millions of rupiah from RM both in cash and transfer.

According to Aditya Aelman, the fictitious RKAB document was used to transport nickel ore which is thought to have come from the former PT PCM IUP area which was no longer active through the jetty port of PT KMR.

The total sales of nickel ore reached around 480 thousand tons. Based on the calculation of the Southeast Sulawesi BPKP auditor, the state loss was IDR 233 billion," he said.

To date, the number of suspects in the case is nine people, namely RM and AT, ES and HH (PT PCM), MM, MLY, PD (PT AM), HP (Intermediary of PT AM), and SPI (Head of KSOP Kolaka).

For his actions, RM will be subject to Article 2 Paragraph (1), Article 3, Article 5, and Article 18 of the Anti-Corruption Law in conjunction with Articles 55, 56, and 64 of the Criminal Code. Meanwhile, AT is subject to Article 2 paragraph (1), Article 3, Article 12 letter a, Article 12 letter, Article 12B, and Article 18 of the Anti-Corruption Law in conjunction with Articles 55, 56, and 64 of the Criminal Code.