NTB Prosecutor's Office Detains 3 New Suspects In Mining Corruption Cases

The prosecutor's team escorted three suspects in the alleged corruption case of the iron sand mine (ANTARA/Dhimas B.P.)

The Special Criminal Investigators of the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) High Prosecutor's Office (Kejati) have detained three new suspects in the alleged corruption case in the iron sand mining activity of PT Anugrah Mitra Graha (AMG).

Spokesperson for the NTB Prosecutor's Office, Efrien Saputera, said that his party had entrusted the detention of the three suspects at the Mataram Class IIA Prison.

"Immediately taken to the Mataram Prison. So, the status is now a detainee entrusted by the prosecutor," said Efrien as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, July 20.

Three additional suspects in this case were revealed to have the initials MH, who is the former Head of the NTB Energy and Mineral Resources Service (ESDM), then SM, who is also the former Head of Mineral and Coal (Minerba) Division of the NTB Energy and Mineral Resources Service and is now still active as the Head of the Dompu Manpower Service (Disnaker).

Another suspect, SI, who is the Head of the Lombok Class III Port Organizing Unit Office.

As a suspect, investigators apply Article 2 paragraph (1) and/or Article 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law no. 20 of 2001 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the 1st Criminal Code.

Investigators detained the three suspects after the examination process which ended at 18.53 WITA.

Assistant for Special Crimes at the NTB Prosecutor's Office, Ely Rahmawati, revealed that the examination had been going on since morning at around 10:00 WITA.

During the detention, the prosecutor took the three suspects to the Mataram Class IIA Prison in a detention vehicle. Present at the detention process were the families of each suspect.

In the case of mining corruption of PT AMG, investigators previously named three suspects, namely the Head of Branch of PT AMG East Lombok Regency with the initials RA, the Director of PT AMG with the initials PSW and the former Head of the NTB Energy and Mineral Resources Service (ESDM) with the initials ZA.

The handling of the cases of the three suspects is now just waiting for the public prosecutor to transfer the files to the court.

PT AMG, which is headquartered in North Jakarta, was revealed to have the legality of an iron sand mining permit in the Dedalpak Block with a land area of 1,348 hectares. The permit is valid for 15 years from 2011 to 2026.

Permit issued based on the Decree of the Regent of East Lombok Number: 2821/503/PPT.II/2011 concerning Approval to Improve Mining Business Permits (IUP) Exploration to IUP for Production of Iron Sand and Mineral Followers in the Dedalpak Block which is included in Pringgabaya District and Labuhan Haji District, East Lombok Regency.

In this case, it was revealed that there were indications that PT AMG carried out mining in the Dedalpak Block without obtaining annual RKAB approval from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. Such mining activities took place in the period 2021 to 2022.

According to the regulations, the RKAB approval is a ticket for mining companies to operate. According to the regulations, there is a stipulation of the production fee or royalties that must be deposited by the company to the government in every sale of mining commodities.

The rules are in accordance with Article 18 of Government Regulation Number 81 of 2019 concerning Types and Tariffs of Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) that apply to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

In the regulation, the government set royalty rates for iron sand commodities at 10 percent of the selling price. From the investigation process, the prosecutor's office has received audit results from BPKP NTB with a loss value of Rp36 billion.