Karen Agustiawan Considers The KPK Indictment In The LNG Case To Be Unclear

President Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) for the 2009 period 2014 Galaila Karen Kardinah alias Karen Agustiawan/ANTARA/Fath Putra Mulya.

JAKARTA - Former President Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) Galaila Karen Kardinah alias Karen Agustiawan said the indictment of the Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was unclear because it was prepared based on the testimony of witnesses who were not in the examination report (BAP).

This was read by Karen at the Corruption Court (Tipikor) at the Central Jakarta District Court, Jakarta, as a memorandum of objection or personal exception in the alleged corruption case in the procurement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Pertamina in 2011 2014.

"I feel that the indictment is unclear and confusing because it was prepared based on the statements of witnesses who were not in the BAP, especially because none of Blackstone, Tamarind Energy, or Corpus Christi were examined by the KPK," Karen said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, February 19.

Karen said she did not find BAP on behalf of Senior Managing Director of Private Equity Group Blackstone as well as Director of Cheniere Energy, David Foley; CEO of Tamarind Energy, Ian Angel; Chief Tamarind Energy Indonesia, Gary Hing; and Managing Director of Private Equity Group Blackstone, Angelo Acconscia.

I did not find the BAP in the name of the following witnesses: David Foley; Ian Angel; Gary Hing; Angelo Acconscia; parties involved in the 2013 SPA (sales and purchase agreement) and 2014 SPA agreement from Corpus Christi or Cheniere," Karen said.

In the indictment, Karen is said to have communicated with these people. He was charged with harming the country amounting to 113.84 million US dollars or equivalent to Rp1.77 trillion.

The indictment is based on the Report on the Investigative Audit Results of the Indonesian Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) in the context of calculating state losses for the procurement of LNG for US companies, Corpus Christi Liquefaction LLC at Pertamina and other relevant agencies.

Karen, in her personal exception, then mentioned the visit of Pertamina, BPK, and the KPK to the United States on August 23, 2023. According to him, the visit should also visit the Corpus Christi Liquefaction office.

"However, until now there has been no witness testimony contained in a BAP stating that Corpus Christi is the beneficiary of the 2020 and 2021 losses suffered by Pertamina," he said.

"There are also no reports of visits to the Blackstone office in New York to get testimony of benefits to me on the assurance of the sale of LNG Corpus Christi volume," Karen continued.

On that basis, Karen concluded that the indictment of the KPK prosecutor was unclear, careful, and complete because it was not supported by the statements of important witnesses mentioned in the indictment.

He appealed to the judges of the Jakarta Corruption Court to declare the indictment unacceptable or null and void. However, if the panel is still going to examine the case, he asks Blackstone and Corpus Christi Liquefaction to be investigated.

"If the panel of judges will continue to examine the case, I ask that the panel of judges can order the Public Prosecutor to examine Blackstone and Corpus Christi so that we can all get the real facts for justice for me as a defendant and Indonesian society," he said.