The Joint Police-Kejaksaan Team Tests the Authenticity of 74 Kg Gold Evidence Items

JAKARTA - Joint investigators from the police and the Attorney General's Office (Kejagung) tested the authenticity and level of 74 gold bars in a search related to the investigation of alleged cases of criminal corruption, bribery, gratification, and money laundering (TPPU).

Head of Public Relations of the Metro Jaya Police, Kombes Budi Hermanto, said the testing process involved the PT Pegadaian laboratory. The testing stage is part of the completeness and transfer of evidence in the case, which is an extension of the investigator to the Attorney General's Office.

"Today, investigators from the joint investigation with investigators from the Attorney General's Office and Pegadaian will conduct a test related to gold evidence of 74 pieces or equivalent to 74 kilograms," said Budi as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, July 13.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Pegadaian Gemology Laboratory Department, Rubika, who was also present at the event confirmed that his party had received a request for testing. Currently, the Pegadaian team has only visually examined the evidence.

"The first thing we test is to identify its authenticity. The second is that we are looking for its qualifications, namely its level, and also its weight. We will announce the results of this laboratory test in one or two days," said Rubika.

In addition to gold bars, the joint investigation team also seized evidence in the form of cash in the form of Indonesian rupiah, US dollars (USD), and Singapore dollars (SGD).

To ensure the authenticity of the foreign currency, investigators will involve external parties, namely the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Embassy, the Embassy of Singapore, and Bank Indonesia (BI). Budi emphasized that the involvement of various external experts was carried out in order to maintain the principle of openness in the process of submitting case files.

Regarding the status of ownership of the gold, Budi was not willing to provide further information because it was still in the ongoing investigation material.

"The submission of documents, case files, suspects, and evidence will be carried out gradually to the Attorney General's Office because it uses experts from external parties related to testing," he added.

The National Police has gradually handed over the administrative files of three corruption cases to the Attorney General's Office, namely the corruption in the procurement of coal for the PLTU; the corruption of Asabri and Jiwasraya in 2020-2025; and money laundering in the process of settling PT CBS's debt to PT KNI.

"The case has been handed over to the Attorney General's Office for further investigation. So, gradually all the administrative investigations and evidence will be handed over to the Attorney General's Office for follow-up," said Head of Operations of the National Police's Corruption Eradication Task Force (Kortastipidkor) Kombes Ahmad Yusuf Afandi, Sunday (12/7).

In addition to the file, Kombes Ahmad Yusuf also said that the transfer of suspects was also carried out gradually.