Top executives of Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas firm among 7 arrested in US$12 billion corruption scandal
The two who were named by the Attorney General’s Office include Riva Siahaan - who is the president director of Pertamina Patra Niaga - as well as chief executive officer of Pertamina International Shipping Yoki Firnandi.
A composite image of Riva Siahaan (left), who is the president director of Pertamina Patra Niaga, and chief executive officer of Pertamina International Shipping Yoki Firnandi. (Source: Websites of Pertamina Patra Niaga and Pertamina International Shipping)
JAKARTA: Two top executives from the subsidiaries of Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina were among seven people arrested on Monday (Feb 24) in relation to a US$12 billion crude oil corruption scandal.
They were purportedly involved in a scheme to market subsidised Pertalite gasoline under the more expensive Pertamax brand.
The Jakarta Globe reported on Tuesday that they include Riva Siahaan, who is the president director of Pertamina Patra Niaga – the sales arm of Pertamina - as well as Yoki Firnandi.
Yoki is the chief executive officer of Pertamina International Shipping.
The others arrested by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) include executives from another one of Pertamina’s subsidiaries - Kilang Pertamina Internasional - as well three from the private sector.
Their names were disclosed only by their initials, the Jakarta Globe reported. But news agency Reuters identified Sani Dinar Saifuddin, a director at Kilang Pertamina Internasional, as among those who were arrested.
Reuters reported the AGO’s director of corruption investigations Abdul Qohar as saying that between 2018 and 2023, Riva, Yoki and Sani were alleged to have violated a government regulation for Pertamina to source crude oil from domestic suppliers, and had colluded to justify crude oil and fuel imports.
The report added that the executives had said the crude oil from contractors operating in Indonesia did not meet their specifications when that was not the case.
Crude oil produced by contractors was exported, while Kilang Pertamina Internasional and Pertamina Patra Niaga imported crude oil and fuel with “significantly higher prices”, Reuters quoted Abdul as saying.
According to the Jakarta Globe, the illegal crude oil trade between 2018 and 2023 resulted in an estimated state loss of 193.7 trillion rupiah (US$11.9 billion).
"Based on witness statements, expert opinions, and legally obtained documents, the investigation team has identified seven suspects," Abdul said, adding that the seven have been detained and are undergoing medical check-up.
Meanwhile, Pertamina spokesman Fadjar Djoko Santoso said that the state-owned firm will cooperate with prosecutors during the investigation.
“Pertamina is committed to cooperating with law enforcement agencies to ensure due legal process while upholding the presumption of innocence,” Fadjar said in a statement, as reported by the Jakarta Globe.
In December, President Prabowo Subianto doubled down on his stance against those convicted of graft. The apparent U-turn came days after an earlier statement suggesting his administration might pardon those accused of the crime.
Prabowo has since urged judges to adopt a tougher stance on graft convicts, stating that they deserve to be imprisoned for decades especially if the crimes they committed have caused hundreds of trillions of rupiahs in state losses.
