KPK Takes Over LPEI Case, Calculation of State Losses Begins to Be Clarified

JAKARTA - The handling of alleged corruption at the Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI) is considered to show a paradox in law enforcement. Although the findings of the Financial Audit Agency (BPK) repeatedly reveal problematic financing and violations of the principle of prudence, the case has long been stalled in court.

For years, the case has stalled at the investigation stage without indictment or trial. This condition raises public questions about the seriousness of law enforcement in completing alleged corruption in the state-owned financing institution.

The Founding Secretary of Indonesian Audit Watch (IAW) Iskandar Sitorus assessed that the impasse reflected the weakness of the foundation for proving criminal offenses. According to him, the findings of administrative audits cannot automatically be used as legal evidence.

"Without a forensic audit that specifically calculates state losses and links them to illegal acts, the investigation will run in a gray area," said Iskandar, Wednesday, February 4.

He explained that the Attorney General's Office had examined dozens of witnesses since 2021 and even mentioned the existence of suspects in certain clusters. However, the legal process never continued to the prosecution stage, so the case was never tested in the Corruption Court.

According to IAW, the absence of a forensic audit makes the case lose a strong basis of evidence to be brought to the green table. As a result, the audit results only become an administrative record without criminal consequences.

New developments emerged in March 2024, when Finance Minister Sri Mulyani handed over internal audit data and results of the search to the Attorney General's Office and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The data revealed indications of financing fraud of around IDR 2.5 trillion in four debtors.

The findings shifted the case from merely a problem loan to an alleged deviation in the management of state finances. The handling was then transferred to the KPK in August 2024.

Under the KPK, the investigation process is considered more systematic, ranging from the announcement of suspects, counting state losses, to tracing the flow of funds and expanding the cluster of cases.

Iskandar said the difference in approach showed the contrast in law enforcement between administrative audits and criminal evidence.

"Audit without law enforcement is just an archive, and investigation without trial is nothing more than news. The public is waiting to see whether the LPEI case is really completed in the courtroom or stops again before justice is decided," he said.