Steel Import Corruption Case, AGO Examines 2 Witnesses From The Ministry Of Finance

JAKARTA - Investigators of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) of the Attorney General's Office examined two witnesses from the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) related to the investigation into the alleged corruption case of steel imports for the 2016-2021 period.

The Head of the Legal Information Center (Kapuspenkum) of the Attorney General's Office, Ketut Sumedana, said the two witnesses from the Ministry of Finance were the Head of the Tax Law, Excise and Regulatory Evaluation with the initials THS and the Head of the State Property Law and Legal Information Section at the Secretariat General of the Legal Bureau of the Ministry of Finance with the initials BS.

"Witness THS and BS were examined to explain regulations related to steel imports and Anti-Dumping Duties (BMAD) in relation to steel imports," Sumedana said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 19.

The witness THS refers to the statement of Toto Hari Saputra, while BS refers to the statement of Budi Setiabudi.

Apart from the Ministry of Finance, investigators also examined other witnesses from the Ministry of Trade. The witness in question is a Trade Analyst of Certain Functional Young Experts at the Directorate of Imports of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.

"Witness examination is carried out to strengthen evidence and complete the filing in the case," said Ketut.

The day before, investigators questioned Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana (IWW) as the Director General of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Trade (Dirjen Daglu of the Ministry of Trade) as a witness in the alleged corruption case of steel imports.

He was examined to explain the mechanism for issuing an explanation letter (Sujel) in 2016 and an explanation letter from 2016 to 2021.

Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana has been named a suspect in the alleged corruption case in granting export permits for CPO and its derivative products which caused a shortage of cooking oil.

In this case, investigators at the Roundabout have named 9 suspects, namely 3 individual suspects and 6 corporate suspects.

Of the three individual suspects, two of them are private suspects and one is from the Ministry of Trade. The three suspects are Retain Banurea Young Analyst of Import Trade at the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (Dirjen Daglu) of the Ministry of Trade, Taufiq, the manager of PT Meraseti and the founder of PT Meraseti with the initials BHL or Budi Hartono Linardi.

Meanwhile, the other six suspects are importing companies, namely PT Bangun Era Sejahtera, PT Duta Sari Sejahtera, PT Intisource Baja Sakti, PT Jaya Arya Kemuning, PT Perwira Aditama Sejati, and PT Prasasti Metal Utama.