PT Wilmar Officials Allegedly Involved In Cooking Oil Corruption, Conglomerate Assets Martua Sitorus Number 10 Richest Person In Indonesia Will Shrink?

Martua Sitorus conglomerate. (Photo: Doc. Forbes)

JAKARTA - Master Parulian Tumanggor, Commissioner of PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia, is suspected of being involved in the cooking oil mafia corruption case. This is allegedly going to make a series of business lines of the Wilmar Group owned by conglomerate Martua Sitorus affected.

The 62-year-old tycoon is one of the richest people in Indonesia. Based on data from Forbes Real-time Billionaire, as of the close of trading on Thursday, April 21, the value of the Wilmar Group founder's wealth was around US$2.9 billion or equivalent to IDR 41.62 trillion.

This nominal is reduced by about 4 percent from the estimated 3 billion US dollars or IDR 43 trillion last week. Martua is still in the top 10 of the list of the richest people in Indonesia.

This 10th position is not yet "safe" for Martua. This is because Bank Jago boss Jerry Ng and Alfamart founder Djoko Susanto are stuck in 11th and 12th places with a net worth of US$2.7 billion.

The downward trend in Martua Sitorus' wealth may continue. Moreover, Forbes data shows that Martua is still experiencing a decline in his wealth of more than 1 percent in the last 24 hours.

This potential is also in line with the sluggish data on stock prices connected to Martua's business line. Through the Wilmar Group and its joint ventures with several parties, Martua has two listed companies that are listed in the capital market, namely PT Wilmar Cahaya Indonesia Tbk (CEKA) and PT Cemindo Gemilang Tbk (CMNT).

CEKA, is a company controlled by PT Sentratama Niaga Indonesia (SNI). SNI is one of Wilmar International's derivative entities.

Currently, CEKA has a market capitalization of IDR1.1 trillion on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The company's share price was around IDR 1,820 at the close of trading on Thursday, April 21, which reflected a 2.15 percent weakening trend from last week's position.

At the same time, the decline in stock prices recorded by CMNT was more severe. The cement producer entity owned by Gama Group, Martua Sitorus' joint venture with his brother Ganda Sitorus, now has a market capitalization of IDR 18.67 trillion.

CMNT's share price is now only IDR 1,115 per share, reflecting a declining trend of 4.29 percent from last weekend's position.

Previously reported. The involvement of Wilmar officials in the alleged corruption of the cooking oil mafia was first announced by Attorney General ST Burhanuddin on the evening of Tuesday 19 April. This also had an impact on the downward trend in CMNT and CEKA stock prices on stock trading on Wednesday, April 20.

Persis Solo leaves collaboration with Wilmar

In addition to indications of a decrease in the company's market capitalization, the impact of this case also contributed to the loss of several cooperation agreements between the Wilmar Group and several parties. One of them is the Persis Solo football club announcing that they have ended their sponsorship partnership with Wilmar as of Thursday, April 21.

The company, whose majority share is owned by the son of President Jokowi, Kaesang Pangarep, and Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir, said that they regretted the involvement of high-ranking PT Wilmar officials.

"Persis understands the issues that have been developing in the community in the last few days regarding Wilmar, and regrets this incident", said Persis management in an official statement.

Wilmar itself has promised a commitment to follow the ongoing legal process.

"We fully support law enforcement carried out by the Attorney General's Office regarding permits for export approval of palm products", explained Wilmar's management in a written statement.