Ministry Of Defense Satellite Corruption Case, AGO Considers Blocking Foreigner Thomas Van Der Heyden

ILLUSTRA TION BY VOI

JAKARTA - The Attorney General's Office is considering a request from the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI) to ban a foreign citizen (WNA) named Thomas Van Der Heyden, in connection with the investigation into the alleged corruption case in the satellite procurement project at the Ministry of Defense (Kemhan).

The Director of Investigations of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the Attorney General's Office, Supardi, said that having read the information related to the MAKI's insistence, his party was currently investigating the identity of the foreigner.

"Yes (considered, ed), the address is clear, we have processed it. What we still haven't confirmed, we are looking for the data first," Supardi said, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, February 16.

According to Supardi, during the investigation into the alleged corruption case in the project for the procurement of the 123 degree East Longitude (BT) Orbit Satellite at the Ministry of Defense (Kemhan) in 2012-2021, the name of Thomas Van Der Heyden appeared.

However, his party needs to check to find out Thomas' nationality and his place of residence which has not been confirmed.

"There (appears in the investigation). We have to make sure first which citizen he is, where he lives, we just haven't confirmed it. We will cross-check first," said Supardi.

Previously, MAKI asked the Attorney General's Office to take preventative and deterrence measures against a foreign citizen named Thomas Van Der Heyden.

The ban on Thomas Van Der Heyden is related to the investigation into the alleged corruption case in the procurement project for the 123 degree East Longitude (BT) Orbit Slot Satellite at the Ministry of Defense (Kemhan).

"Thomas Van Der Heyden is an expert consultant appointed by PT DNK and/or the Ministry of Defense in the 2015-2020 Ministry of Defense satellite procurement and lease activities which are currently under investigation by the AGO," said MAKI Coordinator Boyamin Saiman.

MAKI received information regarding Thomas Van Der Heyden's name after reading the material for the resistance lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Defense at the Central Jakarta District Court (PN) with case register Number 64/Pdt.G/2022/PN JKT.PST which mentions the foreigner's name.

The lawsuit was filed by the Ministry of Defense to overturn the Singapore Arbitration Award (ICC) which defeated the Ministry of Defense with a fine of hundreds of billions of rupiah.

MAKI has conducted a search on the name of Thomas Van Der Heyden, a foreign citizen (foreigner), with suspicion of having multiple identities, even allegedly having more than two identities.

Thomas Van Der Heyden is suspected of having organized or facilitated parties suspected of being involved with the 2015-2020 Ministry of Defense satellite procurement and lease activities.

According to Boyamin, Thomas Van Der Heyden, apart from being an expert at PT DNK and/or the Ministry of Defense, as a foreigner is suspected of carrying out certain missions with foreign interests that should be watched out for for all his actions and a more in-depth investigation is needed to reveal all his activities in order to maintain the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia.