Not Only CPO Exports, AGO Appoints Ex Official Of The Ministry Of Trade Suspect Of Steel Import Corruption

Hold Banurea (37) as Head of Sub-Division for Administration for the 2017-2018 Period at the Import Directorate General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Trade, has been named a suspect in a corruption case involving steel imports and its derivatives (ANTARA/Laily Rahmawaty)

JAKARTA - Investigators of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) of the Attorney General's Office have named one suspect in the alleged corruption of iron or steel imports in 2016-2021.

The suspect was named Tahan Banurea (TB) as Head of Sub-Division for Administration for the 2017-2018 Period and Head of Miscellaneous Industrial Goods for the 2018-2020 Period at the Directorate of Imports of the Director General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Trade.

Prior to being named a suspect, investigators conducted an examination of Resi Banurea in the round building.

The suspect Detained came out of the roundabout at around 22:54 WIB, wore a pink vest and was then taken into the prisoner's car for detention at the Salemba Rutan, South Jakarta District Attorney's Office.

Previously, the Director of Jampidsus Investigation at the Attorney General's Office, Supardi, revealed the articles used in this case, namely Article 2 and Article 3 of the Corruption Law.

"It's still Article 2, Article 3 remains. In the case of steel imports, there will be indications of bribery or not," Supardi said, Wednesday (18/5) night.

In this case, investigators once conducted a search at the Ministry of Trade Office in April 2022 and confiscated cash worth Rp. 63,350,000, as well as electronic evidence.

Previously, the Head of the Legal Information Center (Kapuspenkum) at the Attorney General's Office, Ketut Sumedana, explained that cases of alleged criminal acts occurred between 2016 and 2021. There are six companies that import iron or steel, guide steel, and their derivative products using an explanation letter (sujel) or import agreements without PI and LS issued by the Directorate of Imports of the Ministry of Trade.

The Sujel was issued on the basis of an importer's request with the reason that it was used in the context of procuring construction materials for road and bridge construction projects on the pretext of having a cooperation agreement with four SOEs.

The four SOEs are PT Waskita Karya, PT Wijaya Karya, PT Nindya Karya, and PT Pertamina Gas (Pertagas).

"After clarification, the four SOEs apparently never cooperated in procuring project materials, either in the form of iron or steel, with the six importers," said Ketut.

It is suspected that the six importers imported alloy steel using Sujel on May 26, 2020 with the excuse that it was for the purposes of road and bridge construction projects, whereas in reality the road and bridge projects in question had been completed in 2018.