Dahlan Iskan Returns To Being A Suspect, Here Are The Rows Of Legal Cases That Have Ensnared Him

Dahlan Iskan after undergoing examination at the KPK building/PHOTO: Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI

JAKARTA - Former SOE Minister Dahlan Iskan has been named a suspect again by the East Java Regional Police. This time, Dahlan is suspected of being involved in a case of forgery of letters and embezzlement of assets of a Steam Power Plant (PLTU) owned by the Java Pos Group.

Reporting from Tempo, the determination of the suspect is contained in letter number B/1424/SP2HP-8/VII/RES.1.9./2025/DIRRESKRIMUM dated July 7, 2025, after the case was filed by investigators on July 2, 2025.

Direktur Reserse Kriminal Umum Polda Jatim, Kombes Totok Suharyanto, membenarkan bahwa Dahlan Iskan ditetapkan sebagai tersangka bersama mantan Direktur Jawa Pos, Nany Wijaya.

"We have named two suspects in this case, namely DI and NW, on suspicion of falsifying letters and embezzlement of PLTU assets. We will continue the investigation process according to procedures," said Totok.

Dahlan's attorney, Johanes Dipa, stated that his party had not received an official notification letter on the status of his client's suspect. He said Dahlan had only been questioned as a witness so far.

We are very surprised by this news. Our client has never been summoned as a suspect. All we know is that he only provided testimony as a witness in his capacity as a former media leader," Johanes said in his statement to the media.

Meanwhile, Dahlan Iskan, who was in Perth, Australia, admitted that he had not received an official notification. "I don't know yet. Just heard from the news," said Dahlan briefly, quoted from Tirto.id, Tuesday, July 8.

Determination as a suspect this time is not the first for Dahlan Iskan. Since 2015, he has been recorded as having stumbled on several legal cases, although most of them lead to release. The following summary is quoted from various sources.

On June 5, 2015, the DKI Jakarta Attorney General's Office named Dahlan as a suspect in the PLN 21 substation construction project worth Rp1.06 trillion. However, this status was canceled by the South Jakarta District Court in a pretrial hearing in August 2015. The judge stated that the determination of the suspect was invalid because there was not enough evidence.

Dahlan was again named a suspect by the Attorney General's Office for the procurement of 16 units of electric cars worth Rp32 billion. This case is related to the implementation of the 2013 APEC Summit. However, the Corruption Court stated that Dahlan was not proven to have harmed the state and acquitted him of all charges.

This case began when Dahlan served as President Director of PT Panca Wira Usaha (PWU), BUMD belonging to the East Java Provincial Government. He was accused of selling company assets without legal procedures. In April 2017, the Surabaya Corruption Court sentenced him to two years in prison. However, the Supreme Court canceled the decision in May 2019 and released Dahlan.