JK Confused Karen Agustiawan Becomes LNG Corruption Defendant: He Is Carrying Out His Duties

Former Vice President Jusuf Kalla became a mitigating witness for Karen Agustiawan at the Jakarta/PHOTO Corruption Court: Rizky Adytia-VOI

JAKARTA - The 10th and 12th Vice Presidents of the Republic of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla (JK) expressed his surprise about the former President Director of Pertamina, Galaila Karen Agustiawan, who was accused of alleged corruption in the procurement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Pertamina for the 2011-2014 period.

During the trial, initially the member judge questioned JK's knowledge about the case that made Karen a defendant.

"Because this defendant was made a defendant here knows you?" asked the judge during a trial at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court, Thursday, May 16.

"I am also confused about why he became a defendant, confused, because he was carrying out his duties," answered JK.

According to him, Karen is only carrying out her duties as President Director of PT Pertamina. That is also in accordance with the instructions.

Moreover, in the policy of availability of energy, JK was also involved in discussing it while still in government.

"This is based on the instructions you said earlier, right?" asked the judge.

"Yes, instructions," answered JK.

"Presidential instruction number 1 aimed at Pertamina?" asked the judge.

"Yes," answered JK.

"That's what I was after, what did the instructions contain?" asked the judge.

"The instructions must be fulfilled above 30 percent," answered JK.

"I participated in discussing this because I happened to be still in the government at that time," added JK.

However, JK admitted that he did not know about PT Pertamina's profit and loss when implementing the policy.

"So there are indeed policies in that. So you don't know whether Pertamina is losing money or profitable, don't you know?" asked the judge.

"No, no. But I can add this, if there is a business policy, there are only two possibilities, he is profitable or losing. If all companies lose, they must be punished, all state-owned enterprises must be punished, this is a danger. If a company loses, it must be punished," said JK.

In this case, Karen Agustiawan was charged with causing state losses of 113.84 million United States (US) dollars or equivalent to Rp1.77 trillion due to alleged corruption in the procurement of liquefied natural gas or LNG at Pertamina in 2011 2014.

The indictment is based on the Investigative Audit Report of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) of the Republic of Indonesia in the context of calculating state losses for the procurement of LNG US company, Corporate Christi Liquefaction LLC (CCL) in Pertamina and other relevant agencies Number: 74/LHP/XXI/12/2023 dated December 29, 2023.

Karen was charged with enriching herself amounting to Rp1.09 billion and 104,016 US dollars or equivalent to Rp1.62 billion. Karen was also charged with enriching a corporation, namely CCL worth 113.84 million US dollars or equivalent to Rp1.77 trillion, which resulted in state financial losses.

In addition, he was also charged with granting approval for gas business development at several potential LNG refineries in the US without any clear procurement guidelines and only granting principle permits without the support of basic justification, technical and economic analysis, as well as risk analysis.

Karen is also said to have not asked for a written response from the Pertamina Board of Commissioners and approval of the General Meeting of Shareholders (GMS) before the signing of the LNG CCL Train 1 and Train 2 purchase agreement and granting power of attorney.