The Attorney General's Office Examines Coordinating Ministry For The Economy Officials In The Corruption Case Of Tom Lembong Sugar Imports

Kapuspenkum Harli Siregar At The Attorney General's Office Building, Jakarta (Rizky AP/VOI)

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) continues to investigate the alleged corruption case of sugar imports involving Thomas Trikasih Lembong, or Tom Lembong, who has been named a suspect. Most recently, investigators examined seven witnesses, including an official at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

The Head of the Attorney General's Office, Harli Siregar, revealed that the examination of witnesses related to alleged corruption in sugar import activities that occurred at the Ministry of Trade in the 2015-2016 period was carried out on Tuesday, December 3, 2024.

One of the witnesses examined was the Deputy for Coordination for Food and Agribusiness at the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, with the initials MM. In addition, another witness is YW, who is a working team for the Development of Tebu and Other Sweetman Plant Areas at the Ministry of Agriculture.

The examination also involved two witnesses from PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PT PPI), namely SYL as Corporate Secretary and IRS as Senior Manager for Commodity Development.

The other four witnesses came from related companies and institutions, such as ARA (Karyawan Sucofindo), EC (Empt Manager in several companies), and LM (Manager Accounting at PT Andalan Furnindo).

Harli explained that so far, investigators have examined about 30 witnesses and several experts, with this number likely to continue to grow as the investigation progresses.

Tom Lembong, who served as Minister of Trade in the 2015-2016 period, was named a suspect for granting a sugar import permit of 105 thousand tons to private companies, which violated the Decree of the Minister of Trade Number 527 of 2004. In this regulation, only state-owned companies are allowed to import sugar.

Tom Lembong was charged with Article 2 Paragraph 1 or Article 3 Juncto Article 18 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999 concerning Corruption Crimes Juncto Article 55 Paragraph 1 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code.