Indonesian Trade Ministry Official Faces 20 Years in Jail Over Involvement in Alleged Cooking Oil Bribery Case

- 20 April 2022 15:37 WIB
Cooking oil is an important food processing ingredient for households in Indonesia. Various brands of packaged have now been widely spread.
Cooking oil is an important food processing ingredient for households in Indonesia. Various brands of packaged have now been widely spread.

JAKARTADAILY.ID – The Indonesian Trade Ministry's Director-General of Foreign Trade, Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana, has been named a suspect in an alleged corruption case.

Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana is currently facing up to 20 years of imprisonment for allegedly granting export facilities for cooking oil raw materials.

This case is suspected to be the cause of the cooking oil scarcity and price hike in Indonesia recently.

"Yes, [his conduct is subject to] Article 2 or Article 3 of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Law. That is the main article," said the Director of Investigation of the Attorney General's Office's Junior Attorney for Special Crimes, Supardi, as quoted by Antara on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

As stated in Article 2, paragraph 1, and Article 3 of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Law, Winsu is subject to 20 years imprisonment and an up to Rp 1 billion fine.

In addition to Articles 2 and 3, Supardi said that investigators are currently investigating an allegation of bribery. "Article 12 [regulates the crime] of bribery. We may [dig into that] if any modus operandi is found," said Supardi.

Previously, the Attorney General's Office named four suspects, including Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana and three individuals from the private sector.

The three suspects are Master Parulian Tumanggor as the Commissioner of PT Wilmar Nabati Indonesia, Stanley MA as the Senior Manager of Corporate Affairs for Permata Hijau Group, and Picare Tagore Sitanggang as the General Manager of General Affairs Division of PT Musim Mas.

The case began at the end of 2021 when cooking oil became scarce in the market, and its price rose. Through the Ministry of Trade, the Indonesian government has then established the policy of domestic market obligation (DMO) and domestic price obligation (DPO).

However, in its practice, exporting companies had not fulfilled the DPO despite having been granted an export permit from the government.

The article was translated from Pikiran-Rakyat.com's article titled "Pejabat Kemendag Jadi Tersangka Kelangkaan Minyak Goreng, Ancaman Penjara 20 Tahun Menanti"

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Editor: Djauhari Effendi

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