Top 10 biggest corruption cases in Indonesia

  • Published on 03/01/2023 at 04:51 GMT+7

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Indonesia has a bad record when it comes to dealing with corruption. According to Transparency International, the Corruption Perception Index of Indonesia ranked 96 out of 180 countries in 2021. Meanwhile, the 2004-2022 statistics from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) show there were 1,310 corruption cases. The number keeps increasing every year. These are the top 10 biggest corruption cases in Indonesia:

  1. Jiwasraya

Indonesia has lost IDR 16.8 trillion from the Jiwasraya’s Saving Plans Investment in October 2018. Six people have been sentenced to jail, namely Benny Tjokrosaputro (President Director of PT Hanson International), Heru Hidayat (Director of PT Trada Alam Minera), Hary Prasetyo (Finance Director of Jiwasraya), Hendrisman Rahim (former President Director of Jiwasraya), Syahmirwan (former Head of Investment and Finance Division of Jiwasraya), and Joko Hartono Tirto (Director of PT Maxima Integra).

  1. Bank Century

From Bank Century’s case, that happened in November 2008, Indonesia lost IDR 7 trillion and another IDR 689.39 billion from a Short Term Funding Facility (FPJP) of Bank Century. Budi Mulya, then Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia for Monetary Management, was sentenced to jail for 15 years.

  1. PT Asabri

PT Asuransi Angkatan Bersenjata Indonesia (Asabri) corruption case worth IDR 23.7 trillion while the graft took place from 2012 to 2019. Eight people were named suspects. They were Heru Hidayat, Benny Tjokrosaputro, Lukman Purnomosidi, Ilham W. Siregar, Hari Setiono, Lt. Gen. Sonny Widjaja, Lt. Comr. Adam Rachmat Damiri, and Bachtiar Effendi.

  1. Hambalang

The Hambalang National Sports Achievement Development Center Project, also known as Hambalang Project, was stopped since 2010 until 2012 due to funding problems. There are 4 suspects in this case: Angelina Sondakh (former House of Representatives (DPR) member), Anas Urbaningrum (former Chairman of the Democratic Party), and Andi Mallarangeng (politician from Democratic Party and former Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports) with an estimated loss of IDR 706 billion.

  1. E-KTP/e-ID

According to the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), the estimated loss from the e-KTP corruption case that happened around mid-2014 was IDR 2.3 trillion. There are 8 suspects include Setya Novanto (former DPR Speaker), Irman and Sugiharto (former Ministers of Interior), Made Oka Masagung & Andi Naragong (businessmen), Irvanto Hendra Pambudi Cahyo (former Director of PT Murakabi Sejahtera), Anang Sugiana Sudiharjo (President Director of PT Quadra Solution), and Markus Nari (former DPR member).

  1. BLBI (Bank Indonesia liquidity support)

This case happened more than 20 years ago which involved 48 people but the government only revealed 3 names until now. They were Tommy Soeharto - the youngest son of former authoritarian Soeharto - Agus Anwar, and Ronny Hendrarto Ronowicaksono, with an estimated loss of IDR 110.4 trillion.

  1. Pelindo II

The PT Pelindo II corruption case took place in 2015. Former PT Pelindo President Director RJ Lino was suspected of abusing his authority in the procurement of container quay cranes (QCC) and mobile cranes. The estimated loss for this case was IDR 7 trillion.

  1. Surya Darmadi

This case happened as a result of the oil palm plantation business that was carried out by his company, PT Duta Palma Group, in Indragiri Hulu Regency, Riau province, from 2004 to 2022 with an estimated loss of IDR 87 trillion.

  1. PT Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI)

Former President Director of PT Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI), Honggo Wendratno, was found guilty along with Raden Priyono, former Head of BP Migas, and Djoko Harsono, former Deputy for Economic Finance and Marketing of BP Migas, for the PT TPPI corruption case in 2009-2010 with an estimated loss IDR 42.4 trillion. Honggo escaped and remained a fugitive until now.

  1.  Social assistance funds (Bansos) for COVID-19

It was one of the latest corruption cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara was found guilty in the case of alleged bribery in social assistance funds for handling the COVID-19 pandemic for the Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) area in 2020. The estimated state loss was IDR 14.59 billion. The panel of judges sent Batubara to prison for 12 years.

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