East Kalimantan Prosecutor Detains Mine Boss, State Loses Rp500 Billion

The suspect BT was detained by the East Kalimantan Attorney's Office for a corruption case of illegal mining in transmigration land that caused the state a loss of Rp500 billion (ANTARA)

SAMARINDA - The East Kalimantan High Prosecutor's Office has detained a director of a mining company who has damaged hundreds of transmigrant houses and caused the state to lose half a trillion rupiah.

"The same day, the suspect BT was immediately detained in the detention center for 20 days," said Head of the Legal Information Section of the East Kalimantan Prosecutor's Office, Toni Yuswanto, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, February 24.

The suspect with the initials BT is known to have served as a director at three companies suspected of corruption, namely PT JMB, PT ABE, and PT KRA.

The illegal coal mining action has taken place since 2001 to 2007 on land HPL Number 01 owned by the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration.

The earth dredging activity without a permit has thwarted the purpose of the Transmigration Swakarsa Mandiri (TSM) program because the land that should be a living space is actually mined.

The impact of mining resulted in hundreds of houses of transmigrant residents along with agricultural land and public and social facilities being destroyed.

This massive damage hit a number of settlements in the Tenggarong Seberang District which includes Bhuana Jaya, Mulawarman, Suka Maju, Bukit Pariaman, and Separi Villages.

"The coal in the transmigration area is exploited and sold incorrectly by the companies led by the suspects," said Toni.

This corruption and environmental destruction crime resulted in the state incurring losses of approximately Rp500 billion.

The investigators are currently still coordinating with the auditor team to conduct a calculation to obtain the accumulated nominal state losses.

"The suspect is now being held at the Samarinda Class 1 State Prison to prevent potential escape, repeat crimes, and eliminate evidence," said Toni.

For his actions, BT was charged with the threat of Primair Article 603 and Subsidiary Article 604 of the Indonesian Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code in conjunction with the regulation on Eradication of Corruption Crimes.