The Attorney General's Office Names Former Riau Inhu Regent And Owner Of Duta Palma Group Suspects For Palm Oil Corruption

JAKARTA - The Attorney General's Office has named two suspects in the alleged corruption case of 37,095 hectares of palm oil land, one of which is the former Regent of Indragiri Hulu (Inhu), Riau, Raja Thamsir Rahman.

"The Regent of Indragiri Hulu, Riau Province from 1999 to 2008 on behalf of the RTR (Raja Thamsir Rahman) has unlawfully issued a location permit and a plantation business permit in a forest area in Indragiri Hulu on an area of 37,095 hectares," said Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin in a statement. quoted by ANTARA, Monday, August 1st.

Burhanuddin said the permits were granted to five companies, namely PT Banyu Bening Utama, PT Panca Agro Lestari, PT Seberida Subur, PT Palma Satu, and PT Kencana Amal Tani.

In addition to Raja Thamsir Rahman, Burhanuddin also revealed that his party named the owner of Duta Palma Group Surya Darmadi or SD as a suspect in the corruption of an oil palm area of 37,095 hectares.

"SD, without a permit to release forest areas from the Ministry of Forestry, and without a land use right from the National Land Agency, have taken advantage of forest areas by opening oil palm plantations and producing palm oil," said Burhanuddin.

Based on the results of expert calculations, Burhanuddin revealed that the estimated state financial and economic losses caused by these activities reached Rp78 trillion.

"Based on the results of the exposure carried out on July 18, 2022, the investigative team has found sufficient evidence for the suspect, namely RTR's brother, the Regent of Indragiri Hulu Regency for the 1999-2008 period and SD, the owner of the Duta Palma Group," said Burhanuddin.

Suspect Raja Thamsir Rahman and Suspect Surya Darmadi are suspected of violating primary Article 2 paragraph (1) subsidiary Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Corruption Eradication Law in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) 1 of the Criminal Code.

Specifically for Suspect Surya Darmadi, he is also suspected of violating Article 3 of Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Eradication of the Crime of Money Laundering or Article 4 of Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Eradication of the Crime of Money Laundering.

"The suspects were not detained because the suspect RTR is serving a sentence for another case at the Pekanbaru prison, while the suspect DS is still on a DPO status," said Burhanuddin.