Laksda Leonardi Files Pretrial In Case Of Alleged Corruption In Orbit Satellite 123, Lawyer: Unfit To Be A Suspect

Lawyer for the former Head of the Defense Facilities Agency of the Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan), Rear Admiral (Laksda) TNI (Ret.) Leonardi, Rinto Maha, during a press conference in Jakarta, Tuesday (5/8/2025).

JAKARTA - The attorney for the former Head of the Defense Facilities Agency of the Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan), Rear Admiral (Laksda) TNI (Ret.) Leonardi, Rinto Maha, said his client did not deserve to be named a suspect in the alleged corruption case in the procurement of terminal users for the orbital slot satellite 123 degrees east longitude at the Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan) in 2012-2021.

Rinto said that he had filed a pretrial lawsuit at the South Jakarta District Court (PN) for the determination of the suspect against his client. The pretrial was filed on July 16, 2025, registered with case number 85/Pid.Pra/2025/PN JKT.SEL.

"We emphasize that the determination of the status of a suspect against our client is premature, not based on law, and ignores the principles of due process of law," said Rinto in the Menteng area, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday, August 5.

Rinto said there was no real state loss in the case because no payment made by the Ministry of Defense for the invoice (payment request) proposed by Navayo International AG, a third party in the procurement.

According to him, the audit report of the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) which stated that there was a state loss of Rp306,829,854,917.72 was only an estimated obligation and had never been paid through the state treasury to Navayo.

"At the LHP (report of the results of the examination) which became a stepping stone for investigators, this is still a potential loss (potential loss), it has not been paid, so if it has been paid, he admits he has lost, it can. This has not been paid, admitted that he lost, now that's strange," said Rinto.

Rinto also said there was no element of enriching oneself or others in this case. Because Leonardi did not receive personal gain over the project, while Navayo did not accept payments from the Indonesian government.

In addition, Rinto explained that as the acting commitment maker (PPK), Leonardi only carried out administrative functions according to the orders of his superiors. Therefore, according to him, his client cannot be punished.

Rinto also said that his client had not abused his authority. Leonardi, he said, signed a contract with Navayo after the list of contents of the budget implementation (DIPA) was issued.

He explained that the signing of the contract was carried out when DIPA was available, around October 2016, not on July 1, 2016 when the budget was not yet as alleged to his client.

The attorney claims that Leonardi signed a contract with Navayo over the position of his superior. Prior to the signing of the contract, Leonardi was said to have submitted a letter of application for instructions to his superiors.

In early 2017, he continued, Leonardi had written to Navayo to stop the delivery of goods because the implementation structure was incomplete. Leonardi is also said to have initiated the contract addendum as a corrective step.

Furthermore, the attorney emphasized that Leonardi was not the party authorized to win Navayo in this terminal user procurement project. According to Rinto, this is the authority of budget users.

It is known, in May 2025, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) named Leonardi as one of the suspects in the alleged corruption case in the terminal user procurement project for the orbital slot satellite 123 degrees east longitude at the Ministry of Defense in 2016.

Leonardi is a former Head of the Defense Facilities Agency of the Ministry of Defense and a commitment-making official or PPK. Regarding the status of the suspect, Leonardi submitted a pretrial application on July 16, 2025 to the South Jakarta District Court.

Apart from Leonardi, there are two other suspects who have been named by the AGO, namely ATVDH (Anthony Thomas Van Der Hayden) as the Ministry of Defense Satellite Expert, and GK (Gabor Kuti) as CEO of Navayo International AG.

Director of Enforcement at the Deputy Attorney General for Military Crimes at the AGO Brigadier General TNI Andi Suci said Leonardi as PPK at the Ministry of Defense signed a cooperation contract with GK as CEO of Navayo on July 1, 2016.

"The agreement for the provision of terminal service users and related equipment is worth 34,194,300 US dollars and turns to 29,900,000 US dollars," Andi said at a press conference at the Attorney General's Office Building, Jakarta, Wednesday (7/5) night.

However, the signing of the cooperation contract was carried out without the Ministry of Defense's budget. In addition, Navayo's appointment as a third party was also without going through the process of procuring goods and services.

After the cooperation, Navayo claimed to have done a job in the form of shipping goods and programs to the Ministry of Defense based on four performance certificates (CoP), one of which was with Leonardi's approval.