The Attorney General's Office Examines Four High-ranking Officials From The Ministry Of Trade For CPO Corruption

Head of the Attorney General's Office for Legal Information Center (Kapuspenkum Kejagung) Ketut Sumedana. ANTARA/HO-The Attorney General

JAKARTA - The Investigating Prosecutor at the Directorate of Investigation of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes at the Attorney General's Office (Jampidsus Kejagung) examined four high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) related to allegations of corruption in crude palm oil (CPO).

"Jampidsus of the Attorney General's Office examined four witnesses related to cases of alleged corruption in the provision of export facilities for CPO and its derivatives from January 2021 to March 2022," said Head of the Attorney General's Center for Legal Information (Kapuspenkum Kejagung) Ketut Sumedana in a statement received in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Monday, April 18.

The first witness was the Head of the Indonesian Ministry of Trade's Data and Information System Center with the initials AS, and the next witness was the Director of Basic Needs (Bapok) and Important Goods at the Directorate General of Domestic Trade of the Indonesian Ministry of Trade with the initials IK.

The third witness was the Coordinator of Basic Needs Materials (Bapok) for Industrial Products, the Directorate of Staples and Important Goods, the Director General of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Trade, RI with the initials IW.

The fourth witness is the Director General of Domestic Trade of the Indonesian Ministry of Trade with the initials ON.

"All of them were examined related to the case. The examination of witnesses is to strengthen evidence and complete the filing," said Sumedana.

Previously, on Tuesday, April 5, Jampidsus of the Attorney General's Office raised the status of the handling of cases of alleged corruption in the provision of cooking oil export facilities in 2021-2022 to the investigation stage.

Based on the results of the investigation, said Ketut Sumedana, the investigating prosecutor found an unlawful act in the case.

"The issuance of export approvals (PE) to exporters whose permits were actually denied because they did not meet the DMO-DPO requirements," he said.

According to him, his mistake was not following the fulfillment of domestic demand distribution obligations (DMO) so that the domestic selling price (DPO) violated the price limit.

"It is alleged that there is a gratuity in granting the PE issuance permit," said Sumedana.