The Attorney General's Office Examines 5 Witnesses From The Ministry Of Industry Regarding The Steel Import Corruption Case

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JAKARTA - Investigators of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) of the Attorney General's Office, Monday, examined 6 witnesses related to the alleged corruption case of iron or steel imports for the 2016/2021 period. Five of the witnesses were from the Ministry of Industry.

The Head of the Legal Information Center (Kapuspenkum) of the Attorney General's Office (Kejagung) Ketut Sumedana said that five witnesses from the Ministry of Industry were examined, namely NN as the Coordinator of the Downstream Metal Industry Sub-Directorate of the Directorate of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment and Electronics (ILMATE) Industry of the Ministry of Industry.

Then BS as Director of Metal Industry, RA as Coordinator of Metal Industry, FI as Functional Procurement of Goods and Services at the Secretary of the Directorate General of ILMATE, and MH as Sub Coordinator of Industrial Empowerment at the Directorate of ILMATE.

"Witnesses were examined regarding allegations of corruption in the import of steel or steel, alloy steel, and their derivative products from 2016 to 2021," said Ketut as quoted by Antara, Monday, April 18.

Meanwhile, one other witness being examined came from the private sector, namely the initials of BHL as the owner of PT Feelingti Logistic Indonesia, PT Meraseti Transport Indonesia, PT Meraseti Maritim Indonesia, PT Meraseti Digita Kreatif, PT Meraseti Konsultama Indonesia, PT Meraseti Bakti Nusantara, PT Meraseti Anugerah Utama, and other PT Meraseti.

"Similar to other witnesses, they were examined regarding allegations of criminal acts of corruption," said Ketut. Kapuspenkum said witness examinations were carried out to strengthen evidence and complete filing in cases of alleged corruption in the import of iron or steel, alloy steel and their derivative products, from 2016 to 2021. Previously, investigators had also conducted searches at the Ministry of Industry's office related to cases of alleged corruption in the import of iron or steel in 2016-2021.

There are six companies that import iron or steel, alloy steel and their derivative products using an explanation letter (sujel) or import agreement without PI and LS issued by the Directorate of Imports of the Ministry of Trade.

The Sujel was issued on the basis of an importer's request with the reason that it was used in the context of procuring construction materials for road and bridge construction projects on the pretext of having a cooperation agreement with four SOEs.

The four SOEs are PT Waskita Karya, PT Wijaya Karya, PT Nindya Karya, and PT Pertamina Gas (Pertagas).

After clarification, the four SOEs apparently never cooperated in procuring project materials in the form of iron or steel with the six importers.

It is suspected that the six importers also imported alloy steel using Sujel I on May 26, 2020 with the excuse that it was for the purposes of road and bridge construction projects, whereas in reality the road and bridge projects in question had been completed in 2018.

According to Ketut, an indication of irregularities in the use of sujel related to the exemption of permits for the import of iron or steel, alloy steel and their derivative products carried out by the six importers.

The six importers, namely PT Jaya Arya Kemuning; PT Duta Sari Sejahtera; PT Intisource Bajasakti; PT Prasasti Metal Utama; PT Bangun Era Sejahtera; and PT Perwira Adhitama.

Based on this, the importer is indicated to have committed a criminal act of corruption as regulated in Article 2 in conjunction with Article 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning Eradication of Corruption Crimes as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning Eradication of Corruption Crimes. .

"So the six companies did not import according to their designation and it turned out that they had never entered into a cooperation agreement with the four SOEs," said the Head of the AGO.